By Jessica Wedemeyer
10:00am PDT, Mar 21, 2024
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The Academy Awards honor the year's biggest achievements in filmmaking, but the 2024 Oscars also featured some major music moments: All five nominees for best original song had their turn in the spotlight this year.
Ryan Gosling brought the Kenergy to "I'm Just Ken," while Billie Eilish performed "What Was I Made For?" from the "Barbie" movie (again). A group of indigenous performers made history with their anthem from "Killers of the Flower Moon." A five-time Grammy winner honored his wife. A pop star brought the heat. And an opera superstar shared the stage with his son while honoring the film professionals we lost in the past year.
But which music moment was the one that had everyone talking?
Keep reading as we count down the best performances from Hollywood's biggest night…
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No. 6: Becky G, "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot"
Becky G brought the heat to the 2024 Oscars with her performance of "The Fire Inside" from "Flamin' Hot," which Diane Warren wrote.
She took the stage solo, emerging from the dark in a midriff-baring all-black ensemble (and a jaw-dropping 100-carat diamond necklace from Zales honoring the brand's 100th anniversary — see it next) as a circle of flame blazed on the screen behind her. (Unfortunately, the backdrop proved to be distracting, making us think of the Eye of Sauron from the "Lord of the Rings" franchise… which probably wasn't the point!)
As the singer-actress launched into the chorus, a girls choir joined her on stage. The girls donned white button-down shirts with red trousers, leaving Becky looking somewhat out of place in her bralette, opera gloves and ruffled duster.
Still, the vocals were flawless in this short but sweet performance.
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Here's a closer look at Becky G as she performed the best original song nominee "The Fire Inside" from the film "Flamin' Hot" during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024 — and a closer look at her jaw-dropping 100-carat diamond necklace from Zales honoring the brand's 100th anniversary.
No. 5: Jon Batiste, "It Never Went Away" from "American Symphony"
Jon Batiste brought a tear to our eyes with his rendition of "It Never Went Away" from his Netflix documentary "American Symphony," which chronicled a high point in his carer that coincided with his wife's leukemia battle.
As he sang while playing a grand piano, scenes from iconic love stories — "Shakespeare in Love" and "Brokeback Mountain" among them — played across the image of a full moon on the screen behind him.
As he belted out the final notes, video from his 2022 nuptials played — a fitting tribute to his missus and muse, Suleika Jaouad.
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Here's a closer look at Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jon Batiste performing the best original song nominee "It Never Went Away" from his Netflix documentary "American Symphony" during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
Back in 2021, he won the Oscar for best original score for his work on the Disney cartoon "Soul."
No. 4: Billie Eilish and Finneas, "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie"
On the red carpet preceding the 2024 Oscars, Billie Eilish previewed the "simplistic" performance of "What Was I Made For?" from the "Barbie" movie that she and brother Finneas would deliver later in the evening: "It's simple and it's minimal and it's nice," she said.
Yet the star siblings managed to pull off a lovely surprise: As Billie whisper-sang her way through the ballad, accompanied by her big brother on piano, a curtain opened to reveal an orchestra playing behind them. It added an extra oomph to the number, which Billie and Finneas just performed a month earlier at the 2024 Grammys.
The duo ultimately won the Oscar for best original song for "What Was I Made For?" — which also won two Grammys: song of the year and best song written for visual media.
Billie and Finneas previously won an Oscar for their song "No Time to Die" from the Bond movie of the same name.
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Here's a closer look at Billie Eilish performing "What Was I Made For?" from "Barbie" — which later won the best original song Oscar — during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
No. 3: Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli, "In Memoriam" segment
Famed opera singer Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo Bocelli, handled the Oscars' "In Memoriam" segment, delivering a flawless duet of "Time to Say Goodbye" that was kicked off by a string quartet.
As the music built — and more and more ballet dancers took the stage — a full orchestra joined in. There wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time the father-son duo belted out the final notes.
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Here's a closer look at singer Matteo Bocelli and his father, famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, as they performed amid the "In Memoriam" segment during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
No. 2: Scott George and the Osage Tribal Singers, "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon"
Composer Scott George made history at the 2024 Oscars: He's the first indigenous person to score an Oscar nomination for best original song — for "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from "Killers of the Flower Moon" — as well as the first member of the Osage Nation to earn an Academy Award nomination.
He may not have taken home top honors, but he certainly delivered an award-worthy performance of the song from the Martin Scorsese-helmed drama: George joined the Osage Tribal Singers for a trimmed-down rendition of the song during the awards ceremony. The group formed a drum circle with 10 men keeping beat as nine women stood behind them dressed in a spectacular rainbow of traditional Osage robes. As they sang, 10 Osage dancers performed behind them, forming the outer circle.
With the orange lights encircling them, as well as the yellow sphere projected onto the screen behind them, George and the Osage Tribal Singers perfectly evoked an Oklahoma sunset.
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Here's a closer look at members of the Osage Nation at they performed the best original song nominee "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)," composed by Scott George, from the film "Killers of the Flower Moon" during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
No. 1: Ryan Gosling, "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie"
Ryan Gosling brought the house down with his kenergetic performance of "I'm Just Ken" from the "Barbie" movie. He started from the audience, clad in a fantastic all-pink ensemble, and sent "Barbie" co-star Margot Robbie into a fit of giggles as he shook his head at her while singing that he's "always number two" — behind her Barbie, of course.
He then placed his black cowboy hat on his sister's head and made his way to the stage, where he joined a fleet of tuxedo-clad dancing Kens — including "Barbie" co-stars Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir — as well as "I'm Just Ken" co-writers Mark Ronson, who played a pink guitar, and Andrew Wyatt, who tickled the keys from behind a pink piano.
As the music built, Ryan karate-chopped pink planks, spun through the air while several Kens lifted him above their heads and vibed with Slash, who made a surprise appearance to contribute some of his signature guitar shredding. (See Slash next…)
As the number came to an end, Ryan returned to the audience, where he handed over the mic to the women of "Barbie" — Margot and America Ferrera, plus director Greta Gerwig. He also briefly passed the mic to his "La La Land," "Gangster Squad" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love." co-star Emma Stone, who later joked that she broke her dress while singing along to the '80s power ballad-inspired track.
Ryan sang the final notes as pink fireworks erupted across the stage behind him.
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Ryan Gosling sang "I'm Just Ken" while Guns N' Roses legend Slash ripped a guitar solo during their performance of best original song nominee "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie" during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
Keep reading to see more "Barbie" movie stars who appeared during the live performance…
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Ryan Gosling performed "I'm Just Ken" from the film "Barbie" during the 96th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 10, 2024.
Molly McNearney, who co-produced the Oscars, told Variety it was Ryan's idea to make the performance a tribute to the Marilyn Monroe classic "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."
And according to choreographer Mandy Moore (not to be confused with the singer-actress of the same name), "That's where the pink suit, and everybody else in black came from — and the stairs in the back. And we had an homage to the candelabra girls: We had Ken-delabra men."
There was also a special guest who performed on stage with Ryan…
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"Barbie" stars Scott Evans and Simu Liu — who both played Ken dolls in the movie — paused for a photo backstage before performing "I'm Just Ken" alongside Ryan Gosling during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
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"Barbie" stars Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir — who both played Ken dolls in the movie — practiced their moves backstage before performing "I'm Just Ken" alongside Ryan Gosling and other co-stars during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 10, 2024.
