Diane Warren has responded after setting an unusual record at the Academy Awards, becoming the most nominated person in Oscar history to never win a competitive award.
At the ceremony held in Los Angeles on Sunday 15 March 2026, the songwriter lost her 17th nomination for Best Original Song, extending a long running streak without a competitive Oscar win.
Despite the disappointment, Warren took the result in stride and joked about the milestone on social media.
“Well at least I’m consistent! And I set a new record tonite!! But U know me, I will be back if you’ll have me (sic)!!!”
Breaking the record for most nominations without a win
Before this year’s ceremony, Warren had been tied with Greg P. Russell, a Hollywood sound mixer who also held 16 Oscar nominations without a win.
Her latest nomination now places her alone at the top of that list, giving her the record for the most Academy Award nominations without securing a competitive trophy.
Sharing a screenshot of a headline about the record on Instagram, Warren responded with humour.
“At least I’m a record holder of something!!”
Nominated for song performed by Kesha
At the 2026 ceremony, Warren was nominated for Best Original Song for Dear Me, performed by Kesha, which appears in the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless.
The award ultimately went to Golden from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters.
Warren has been nominated in the category almost every year in recent times, receiving nominations every year since 2016, making it likely she could return again at the 2027 ceremony.
Honorary Oscar already awarded
Although she has not yet won a competitive Academy Award, Warren was presented with an Honorary Oscar in 2022 in recognition of her long career in songwriting.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, she said she still hopes to eventually win in the Best Original Song category.
“You know, I still haven’t won the competitive one. And I’m a competitive person.”
She acknowledged the importance of the honorary award but admitted she still hopes to add a competitive win to her record.
“It’s amazing to have the honorary Oscar – that’s harder to get than the competitive. I don’t take that for granted.”
Warren added that her honorary statue is still waiting for company.
“But, yeah, I still want to win. My honorary Oscar gets really lonely. He wants a friend. He hangs out with Rabbit, my cat, but he prefers to have an Oscar buddy.”
Despite the record, Warren said awards have never been her primary motivation as a songwriter.
“But I’ve never taken awards as validation. The work is validation. When people love the songs, that’s validation.”
“Who doesn’t want to win, right? But you can’t live and die by that because it’s out of your control. What’s in my control is to do the best work I can.”
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Warren has written nine number-one songs and 33 top-10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 including:
- “If I Could Turn Back Time” (Cher, 1989)
- “Look Away” (Chicago, 1988)
- “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion, 1996)
- “How Do I Live” (LeAnn Rimes, 1997)
- “When I See You Smile” (Bad English, 1989)
- “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (Aerosmith, 1998)
- “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” (Paloma Faith, 2014)
