Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Country	United States
First awarded	1988 ("Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail)
Currently held by	Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, "It Never Went Away" from American Symphony (2025)

The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media is a special award given to the best songs created for movies, TV shows, video games, or any other visual entertainment. The Grammy Awards celebrate amazing achievements in music, and this award honors the songwriters who create the perfect tune for what we see on screen.

This award has been given out since 1988. The very first winners were James Horner, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil for the song "Somewhere Out There" from the animated movie An American Tail.

Famous Winners and Disney Legends
- Alan Menken's Magical Music
- Randy Newman's Pixar Hits
Other Memorable Winners
Record-Breaking Songwriters
History of the Award's Name
Interesting Facts About Nominations
Images for kids
See also

Famous Winners and Disney Legends

Many famous songs from beloved movies have won this award. Disney and Pixar songwriters have been especially successful over the years.

Alan Menken's Magical Music

Alan Menken is a huge name in this category. He has won the award five times for his work on classic Disney animated films. His winning songs come from movies many people know and love:

The Little Mermaid (1991) for the song "Under the Sea"
Beauty and the Beast (1993) for the title song "Beauty and the Beast"
Aladdin (1994) for the song "A Whole New World"
Pocahontas (1996) for the song "Colors of the Wind"
Tangled (2012) for the song "I See the Light"

Menken was the first person to win this award two years in a row, in 1993 and 1994.

Randy Newman's Pixar Hits

Randy Newman is another big winner, with three awards for his songs in Disney-Pixar movies. His fun and emotional songs have become famous. He won for:

Toy Story 2 (2001) for the touching song "When She Loved Me"
Monsters, Inc. (2003) for the song "If I Didn't Have You"
Cars (2007) for the song "Our Town"

Other Memorable Winners

Many other iconic songs have received this Grammy. In 2015, the award went to the worldwide hit "Let It Go" from the movie Frozen, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

More recently, Lady Gaga won two years in a row for her work on the movie A Star Is Born. She won in 2019 for "Shallow" and in 2020 for "I'll Never Love Again". This made her the first woman to win in back-to-back years.

In 2023, the catchy song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Disney's Encanto won the award for songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. In 2024, Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell won for their song "What Was I Made For?" from the popular movie Barbie.

Record-Breaking Songwriters

Some songwriters have been nominated many times for their amazing work.

Most Nominations: Diane Warren holds the record for the most nominations in this category with 11. She won the award in 1997 for the song "Because You Loved Me", sung by Celine Dion.
Most Wins: Alan Menken has the most wins with five awards. He is followed by Randy Newman with three wins.
Multiple Winners: Several other artists have won twice, including James Horner, Lady Gaga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the sibling duo Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell.

History of the Award's Name

The name of this award has changed over time to include new types of visual media.

1988–1999: Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television
2000–2011: Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
2012–Present: Best Song Written for Visual Media

Interesting Facts About Nominations

In 1997, Babyface received three nominations in a single year, which is a record. However, he did not win that year.
The movie A Star Is Born (from 2018) is the first film to have songs nominated and win this award two years in a row.

Images for kids

Two-time winner James Horner was the first recipient of the award alongside Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.
Phil Collins won in 1989 with Lamont Dozier.
1990 award-winner Carly Simon.
Bryan Adams won alongside Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Michael Kamen in 1992.
Five-time recipient Alan Menken was awarded for his work in numerous Disney films.
Tim Rice won alongside Alan Menken in 1994.
1995 award-winner Bruce Springsteen.
Eleven-time nominee and 1997 winner Diane Warren.
1996 winner and four-time nominee Stephen Schwartz.
Madonna won in 2000 with William Orbit.
Three-time winner and seven-time nominee, Randy Newman.
Christopher Guest won with Levy and McKean in 2004.
Eugene Levy won with Guest and McKean in 2004.
Michael McKean won with Guest and Levy in 2004.
Alan Silvestri won in 2006.
Annie Lennox won in 2005 alongside Howard Shore and Fran Walsh.
Peter Gabriel won with Newman in 2009.
Thomas Newman won with Gabriel in 2009.
A. R. Rahman won in 2010 alongside Gulzar and Tanvi Shah.
T Bone Burnett received the award for 2011 and 2013.
Taylor Swift won in 2013 alongside The Civil Wars and T Bone Burnett.
Adele won in 2014 with Paul Epworth.
Husband and wife duo Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez won the award in 2015.
Common won in 2016 with Rhymefest & John Legend.
John Legend won with Common in 2016.
Justin Timberlake won alongside Max Martin and Shellback in 2017.
Two-time winner Lady Gaga.
Lin-Manuel Miranda won in 2018 and 2023.
Billie Eilish won in 2021 and 2024 alongside her brother, Finneas O'Connell.
Jon Batiste won with Dan Wilson in 2025.