LIkely Nominees for Best Song Written for Visual Media

Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff appear to be the Grammy front-runners for best song written for visual media with “I Knew It, I Knew You,” the charming pop/country tune they co-wrote for Toy Story 5. It would be Swift’s second win in this category: “Safe & Sound,” which she co-wrote with T Bone Burnett and The Civil Wars for The Hunger Games, won in 2013.

Moreover, it would be the second song from this film franchise to win in this category: Randy Newman’s “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 won in 2001. This would mark the first time that songs from two separate installments of a film franchise have won.

There are 149 songs on this year’s entry list in this category vying for just five or six slots on the final ballot. (The number has varied in recent years.) What other songs are likely to be in the running when the 69th annual Grammy nominations are announced on Nov. 16?

Lady Gaga and Doechii have a good chance with “Runway,” which they co-wrote with Dernst “D Mile” Emile II, Jayda Love, Bruno Mars, Cirkut and Andrew Watt for The Devil Wears Prada 2. Gaga is a two-time winner in the category for co-writing “Shallow” (2019) and “I’ll Never Love Again” (2020), both from A Star Is Born. (The Grammy entry list does not list Gaga as a co-writer, but that will likely be corrected if the song makes it to the final ballot.)

A second song from The Devil Wears Prada 2 is also in the running: “Material Lover,” which Sienna Spiro co-wrote with Omer Fedi and Michael Pollack. Spiro is one of the likely front-runners for best new artist.

Ludwig Göransson, who had two nominated songs in the category at the Grammy ceremony earlier this year (“I Lied to You” and “Pale, Pale Moon,” both from Sinners), is entered with “When I’m Home” from The Odyssey (which he co-wrote with James Blake, Travis Scott and the film’s director, Christopher Nolan). The Odyssey is the second-highest grossing film of 2026, behind Spider Man: Brand New Day.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, a two-time winner in the category, is entered with “Along the Way” from Moana (which he cowrote with Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina). Miranda’s previous wins are both for songs he wrote by himself: “How Far I’ll Go” from the original Moana and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto.

Diane Warren, who has received a record 11 nominations in this category, is entered with “By Any Means” from the film of the same name. The Isley Brothers and David Kushner performed the song on the film’s soundtrack. Warren’s only win in the category to date is for “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close & Personal.

Two songs that were best original song nominees at the Oscar ceremony held earlier this year are on the Grammy entry list this year: “Train Dreams” by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, from the film of the same name; and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” by Nicholas Pike, from Viva Verdi!

In addition, five songs that were shortlisted for Oscar nominations but didn’t go on to be nominated are on the entry list here, including two songs from Wicked: For Good: “The Girl in the Bubble” and “No Place Like Home.” Stephen Schwartz wrote both songs, which were performed in the film by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, respectively.

Other Oscar-shortlisted songs that are on the Grammy entry list are “Dream as One” from Avatar: Fire and Ash (which Miley Cyrus co-wrote with Simon Franglen, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt); “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from Come See Me in the Good Light (which Sara Bareilles and Brandi Carlile co-wrote with Andrea Gibson); and “Dying to Live” from Billy Idol Should Be Dead (which Billy Idol and J. Ralph co-wrote with Tommy English, Joe Janiak and Steve Stevens).

Other songs on the entry list that appeared in films that rank among top 25 top-grossing films of the year-to-date in the U.S. and Canada include “Zoo” from Zootopia 2 (which Shakira co-wrote with Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin); “House” from Wuthering Heights (written and performed by Charli xcx and John Cale); and “I’m Good” from GOAT (which Jelly Roll co-wrote with John Byron, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps and Taylor Philips).

Several songs from projects associated with top music personalities are also on the entry list. These include “What Lies With You” from Linda Perry: Let It Die Here (which she wrote); “One in a Long Line” from Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (Sarah McLachlan & Anne Preven); “Light Up” from Kylie (Duck Blackwell, Luke Fitton, Chris Martin, Kylie Minogue and Richard Stannard); “I’m Never Gonna R.I.P.” from Nimrods (Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt); and “My Cross To Bear from Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul (Julian Raymond).

And don’t forget about: “How to Write a Song Without You (Pop Version)” from Power Ballad (written by John Carney and Gary Clark and performed by Nick Jonas).

Because this Grammy category includes songs written for TV and other visual media in addition to film, the entry list includes “Need Someone” from The Pitt, which won a Primetime Emmy last month for outstanding original words and music. Andrew Bird wrote the song.

The entry list includes four additional songs that were nominated in that Emmy category: “Christian Woman” from South Park (Trey Parker); “Raise Him Up” from The Boys (written by Daveed Diggs, Eric Kripke and Christopher Lennertz); “Mis Figuritas” from Hacks (Carlos Rafael Rivera & David Stal) and “The Devil You Know” from Spider-Noir (Warren Felder, Sebastian Kole, Daniel Pemberton and Jayme Silverstein).

A song from this year’s buzziest TV miniseries is also on the entry list – “It’s You” from Heated Rivalry (written by Peter Jones). So is a song from a hot TV soundtrack – “Gravity” from Hazbin Hotel Season 2 (written by Sam Haft and Andrew Underberg).

So, what songs are likely to be nominated? If there are six nominees, as there have been in three of the last five years, we’ll go with these as our predictions, listed in alphabetical order: