At Sunday’s (March 10) 2024 Oscars, Scott George led a powerful performance with the Osage Tribal Singers of “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” his nominated song from Killers of the Flower Moon.
A scene from the Martin Scorsese-directed film introduced the performance, leading into a wide shot of a large drum that had nine tribal musicians banging on it while 19 other singers and dancers surrounded the drum in a circle. The stage was lit with a red backdrop and a giant glowing sun in the center, that all the musicians were gathered in front of.
Scorsese and the rest of the crowd gave the short-but-impactful performance a rousing standing ovation, matching the celebratory nature of the nominated song.
George, the first Native American to land an Oscar nomination for best original song, told Billboard in an interview published last month that the biggest challenge of the Flower Moon process was submitting the song for an Oscar.
“None of our music is written down,” he shared. “It’s all held on to by memory. But one of the [Oscar] submission requirements was that it would be in a written form. And I just happen to know a person that took that on several years back as part of his education … And so he used that recorder that you got to take home in elementary school to find all the notes and write it all out. Within three to four days, he had it finished, and we got it submitted in time.”
George is up against Diane Warren (“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot); Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie); Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson (“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony); and Billie Eilish and Finneas (“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie) in the achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song) category.
