Diane Warren became the most-nominated person without a competitive Oscar win after her 17th best original song nomination loss at the 2026 Academy Awards. The songwriter for 'Dear Me' from the documentary *Diane Warren: Relentless*—performed by Kesha—lost to 'Golden' from *KPop Demon Hunters*. She embraced the record with humor in interviews and on social media, despite receiving an honorary Oscar in 2022.
Diane Warren reacted to tying the record—previously shared with sound mixer Greg P. Russell at 16 losses—then surpassing it overall, including as the leader among women, with humor and determination. On social media after the ceremony, she posted: “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!!!”
In an NBCLA interview, Warren addressed headlines dubbing her the 'Oscars' biggest loser ever,' saying, “I’ll take it. It means I’ve been nominated all these times.” She added, “If I had the choice of winning, you know, an Oscar — and I’ve been nominated all these times — I’m taking the multiple [nominations]. I’m taking the mantle of biggest loser ever. I’d rather have that than the competitive Oscar.” She shared a clip of the interview online.
Warren, who rarely uses co-writers and holds the record for most best original song nods by a woman, told the New York Times recently: “You know, I still haven’t won the competitive one. And I’m a competitive person. It’s amazing to have the honorary Oscar — that’s harder to get than the competitive. I don’t take that for granted. 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.” She views awards as secondary: “It’s not 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.”
Previously, Warren criticized Oscar producers for excluding three nominated songs from performances, telling Deadline, “It is unfair to me and my fellow nominees... Put all the songs on. It is all of us or none of us.” She could tie Johnny Mercer's 18 nominations next year if nominated again.
