The Academy Awards are, of course, about the movies. But no one could argue that the sound of a film, especially the music, plays an extremely important role in the project's success or failure. If a serious film has a soundtrack of silly music, things have gone awry. Music matters.
The negative about the Oscars right now, though, is that the ceremony no longer features performances by all the Best Original Song nominees. In 2026, for instance, only two performances will be staged, though music lovers have been promised that the staging will be elaborate and important.
There will be other elements of music at the show, at least. Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will perform. One might safely assume this will be during the In Memoriam montage. The segment has been a problem recently, at least to the TV or streaming viewer. The broadcast tends to focus on the performer instead of those who have died. Hopefully, that's different this year.
What you need to know about the music involved in the 2026 Academy Awards ceremony
The two original songs being featured are at least worthy of the moment. The music will also prove the diversity of the film industry.
98th Oscars music performers:
- HUNTR/X (EJAE, AUDREY NUNA, and REI AMI) will perform "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters
- Miles Caton, Raphael Saadiq, Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey, and Alice Smith will perform "I Lied to You" from Sinners
- Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale
Best Original Song nominees for 2026:
- "Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren (performed by Kesha)
- "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters – Music and lyrics by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, and Teddy Park
- "I Lied to You" from Sinners – Music and lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
- "Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdi! – Music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike
- "Train Dreams" from Train Dreams – Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyrics by Nick Cave
Best Original Score nominees for 2026:
- Jerskin Fendrix for Bugonia
- Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein
- Max Richter for Hamnet
- Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another
- Ludwig Goransson for Sinners
The ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 15, beginning at 7 pm ET. Conan O'Brien will host for the second straight year (he was brilliant in 2025), and Matt Berry will be the announcer (which should be fun). ABC will broadcast the show, and the ceremony can be streamed on Hulu. The "official" red-carpet portion will begin at 6:30 pm ET and will be available to watch on ABC and Hulu.