This Mexican-American Artist is Nominated for Best Song Oscar – & No, It’s Not for ‘Emilia Pérez’
Courtesy of A24.
The 2025 Academy Award nominations were revealed this morning (Jan. 23), and a Latine artist received their very first nomination. Mexican-American musician Adrian Quesada is nominated in the Best Original Song category for his work in Sing Sing.
Hailing from Laredo, TX, Quesada is known as a member of Grupo Fantasma and Black Pumas. He has also released music under his own name, including 2022’s Boleros Psicodélicos. In 2011, Quesada won a Grammy award with Grupo Fantasma for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album. Now, he has a chance to add an Oscar to his awards collection. He entered the world of Hollywood by performing and co-writing “Like a Bird” with Abraham Alexander for the 2024 film Sing Sing. Colman Domingo, who is nominated for Best Actor, stars in the movie about the real-life Rehabilitation Through Arts (RTA) program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison.
“I hope the song [‘Like a Bird’] and the movie helps people immerse themselves in empathy,” Quesada shared in a statement last year. “Seeing someone’s longing for freedom and not seeing it as intrusive. Musically it felt like flying away.”
Quesada and Abraham Alexander’s competition in the Best Original Song category includes two tracks from Emilia Pérez, which received 13 nominations overall at this year’s Academy Awards. Though the crime musical is set in Mexico, it’s a French production by Paris-based director Jacques Audiard. The nominated songs “El Mal,” performed by Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascón, and “Mi Camino,” performed by Selena Gomez, were written by Audiard and French musicians Camille and Clément Ducol. The category is rounded out by Diane Warren’s “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight and Elton John’s “Never Too Late” from his documentary of the same name.
The 2025 Oscars will air live from L.A. on Sunday, March 2 on ABC. Instead of live performances from the Best Original Song nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) announced that this year’s ceremony will focus on celebrating the songwriters.
Listen to “Like a Bird” below.