Hilary Duff has always had an audience — but that doesn’t make being seen any easier.

In an exclusive clip from Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals, the singer gets candid about the complicated experience of releasing deeply personal music after more than a decade away. In the clip, which premieres ahead of the Tuesday (March 17) episode of the Josh Scherer-hosted YouTube series, Duff reflects on the double-edged nature of fame.

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“If I hadn’t been in the public eye for so long, people wouldn’t pick apart the lyrics and know exactly what I was talking about; they might be able to connect to them in a different way,” she says. “But since I’ve been a public person since I was 10 years old, everybody knows my family and everybody assumes what we’ve been through.”

Despite that vulnerability, Duff says making the music felt necessary — and freeing. “Being able to be truthful and make music and just say what’s bouncing around in [my head] is a different experience than the girl who was making music and hoping it was on the radio,” she says in the clip.

The conversation centers on Luck… or Something, Duff’s sixth studio album and her first in more than a decade, which arrived Feb. 20 via Sugarmouse Inc./Atlantic Records. Co-written and produced entirely with her husband Matthew Koma and collaborator Brian Phillips, the 11-track set explores themes of anxiety, abandonment and the weight of a life lived publicly. The Lucky Me Tour, a world tour in support of the album, kicks off June 21 in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals is a food-focused interview series from the creators behind Good Mythical Morning, in which host Josh Scherer prepares guests’ ultimate final meals as they discuss life and death. Previous guests have included Tom Hanks, Post Malone, Meghan Trainor and Jason Kelce.

luck… or something debuted in the top 10 across four Billboard album charts, bowing at No. 2 on Top Album Sales and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Metamorphosis, Duff’s 2003 breakthrough, topped the Billboard 200, while 2005’s Most Wanted also debuted at No. 1 on the chart.

Watch Duff speaking about making her new album Luck… or Something, on Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals below.

Music again played a key role on this year’s Oscars, if not quite as big a role as last year when Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the show with a three-song medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz and Wicked. But this year’s show did include elaborately-staged performances of two of the five nominated songs – as well as a touching performance by Barbra Streisand in tribute to Robert Redford, her co-star in The Way We Were. And the show allowed Josh Groban a chance to show off his fun side.

Several anniversaries were saluted. Five key members of the cast of Bridesmaids marked the 15th anniversary of that film’s release by reuniting to present the awards for best original score and best sound.  Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor marked the 25th anniversary of Moulin Rogue by performing snippets of a few songs from that film’s “Elephant Love Medley,” before presenting best picture. Lionel Richie presented the award for best original song, 40 years after he won it for “Say You, Say Me” from White Nights.

Zendaya was tabbed to co-present a major award (best director) with Robert Pattinson.

KPop Demon Hunters won in both of the categories it was nominated in – best animated feature and best original song. Marty Supreme experienced the opposite fate, going 0-9 on the night.

But that was all part of the onscreen action Oscar viewers could enjoy from the comfort of their couches. Billboard was inside the Dolby Theater on Sunday night and caught a few music moments the cameras missed. Below, find the seven music moments you didn’t see on TV.

The songwriting team behind “Golden” made history at the 98th Academy Awardson Sunday (March 15) — and then were abruptly played off the stage before they could finish saying so.

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters won Best Original Song at the 2026 Oscars, becoming the first K-pop song to win in the category’s history, the first song with more than four writers to win, and the first best song winner where all of the writers would not receive an individual trophy.

The song has seven credited writers — EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu-Han Lee (also known as Yuhan), Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park.

EJAE, who provides the singing voice of Rumi in the film, led the acceptance speech in tears. “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone is singing our song and all the Korean lyrics,” she told the Dolby Theatre crowd. “This award is not about success. It’s about resilience.”

When Yuhan stepped to the microphone to follow, the orchestra immediately struck up, his mic was cut and the broadcast went to commercial. The audience responded with audible boos.

Backstage in the press room, EJAE made sure her fellow winners got to say what they had come to say. Yuhan thanked “our families, and 24, and our fellow IDO members,” calling it “an incredible honor.” Sonnenblick, who had been seen jumping defiantly onstage trying to speak before the group was ushered off, delivered his speech in full. “My family, some of them here tonight — my husband is here tonight,” he said.

“Everybody who worked on this movie, all the animators, it was a real collaboration across the board.” He added: “Part of the movie is about looking at someone that you had been taught to hate and to fear, and starting to trust, maybe love them. A movie is like a village, and we’re lucky to be up here right now, but there’s so many people who have made this what it is.”

The Motion Picture Academy limits Best Original Song to no more than four individual statuettes. For songs with five or more co-writers, the writers must sign an agreement to share a single trophy should they win. The cutoff drew immediate backlash on social media, with fans pointing out the group had just made Oscars history.

The win was one of two for KPop Demon Hunters on the night. The film, Netflix’s most-streamed title ever, also took home Best Animated Feature, with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans accepting the award.

“Golden” was the 18th Best Original Song winner in Oscars history to have previously hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. EJAE, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna performed the song live during the telecast, one of only two original song performances of the night.

Jack Johnson is paying tribute to one of his oldest friends. The Hawaii-born singer-songwriter’s new documentary SURFILMUSIC — which premiered at SXSW on Friday (March 13) — is dedicated to the memory of Tamayo Perry, the beloved North Shore surfer and lifeguard who died in a shark attack in June 2024.

Johnson and Perry grew up together on the North Shore of Oahu and remained close throughout their lives. In the film, Johnson reflects on learning of Perry’s death and the kind of presence his friend brought to everyone around him.

“When I first heard the news of losing Tamayo, I think that you start trying to remember the last time you hung out, or things that were said or just wondering whether you were able to say goodbye,” Johnson says in the documentary. “Every time you’d be together, he’d give you a big hug and say he loved you and he was so present through his whole life.” Johnson added that their entire friend group “learned how to be a better friend by having him in our life.”

Perry, who was 49 at the time of his death, was a well-respected figure in the Hawaiian surfing world and worked as a professional lifeguard.

He appeared alongside Johnson in his 2000 surf film Thicker Than Water and went on to appear in Hollywood productions including Blue Crush and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Johnson had written on Instagram at the time that he had lost “one of the world’s best storytellers, tube riders, travel companions, uncles, husbands, lifeguards, but most importantly, one of my best friends.”

Directed by Emmett Malloy, SURFILMUSIC traces Johnson’s unlikely path from aspiring surfer and filmmaker to successful recording artist, drawing on rare footage from his early surf films alongside personal and family archives and present-day reflections. The documentary also features interviews with pro surfer Kelly Slater and Johnson’s wife Kim, whom he married in 2000.

Johnson has reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 four times, with Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George (2006), Sleep Through the Static (2008), To the Sea (2010) and From Here to Now to You (2013).

His most recent studio album, Meet the Moonlight, was released in 2022. Johnson will tour in support of the documentary from June through October 2026.

With its victory at the 98th Oscars on Sunday (March 15), HUNTR/X’s “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters has joined our list of songs that have both topped the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Oscar for best original song. It’s the first song to join the list since “Shallow” from A Star Is Born seven years ago.

“Golden” topped the Hot 100 for eight nonconsecutive weeks last year. Only other two Oscar-winning songs logged eight or more weeks on top. Debby Boone’s cover version of “You Light Up My Life” from the film of the same name topped the Hot 100 for a then-record 10 weeks in 1977. Eminem’s original recording of “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile was on top for 12 weeks in 2002-03.

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The Motion Picture Academy first awarded best original song in 1935. Billboard launched the Hot 100 in 1958. In the chart’s nearly 68-year history, only 18 songs have hit No. 1 and also won best original song. B.J. Thomas’ “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was the first song to achieve the double distinction. The jaunty tune, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, spent four weeks at No. 1 in January 1970 before winning the Oscar that April.

Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Warnes are the only artists who have topped the Hot 100 twice with Oscar-winning songs. Burt Bacharach, Giorgio Moroder and Will Jennings are the only songwriters who have won two Oscars for songs that topped the Hot 100.

The 1970s and 1980s were a heyday for best original song winners topping the Hot 100, but the double distinction became far less common beginning in the 1990s. That decade, only two songs earned the double victory, followed by one each in the 2000s and 2010s and now one (so far) in the 2020s.

In chronological order, here are the 18 songs that have doubled up atop the Hot 100 and at the Oscars. The year shown is the year of the Oscar ceremony.

Additional research by Xander Zellner.


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Alex Warren is heading back to Australia and New Zealand. The California singer-songwriter has announced a seven-date arena tour across both countries in August and September 2026, returning less than a year after eight sold-out shows on his last visit.

The run kicks off Aug. 21 at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch before hitting Spark Arena in Auckland, Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Perth Arena. General public tickets go on sale Friday, March 20 at 11 a.m. local time.

The tour follows a turbulent moment for Warren on the global stage. At this year’s Grammy Awards, where he was nominated for Best New Artist, his in-ears stopped working 30 seconds before he was due to perform — just as Katseye wrapped their set. He performed anyway.

“It was horrifying,” Warren told the Call Her Daddy podcast. “We rehearsed it all week. All week, we were rehearsing. It was perfect. It went well, and to this day, I don’t know exactly what happened.”

The tour is in support of Warren’s debut album You’ll Be Alright, Kid, anchored by the global smash “Ordinary.” “Ordinary” dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, becoming one of only 47 songs in the chart’s 67-year history to lead for double-digit weeks.

It also reigned as Billboard’s Song of the Summer for 2025, topping the seasonal survey for all 14 weeks of the tracking period.

On the Pop Airplay chart, “Ordinary” broke the record for the longest-running No. 1 in the chart’s history, spending 15 weeks at the top. In Australia, the song is currently tied for the second-longest-running No. 1 single in ARIA chart history after spending 17 straight weeks at the summit in 2025.

ALEX WARREN 2026 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND TOUR

Aug. 21 — Christchurch, Wolfbrook Arena
Aug. 24 — Auckland, Spark Arena Aug. 28 — Sydney, Qudos Bank Arena
Sept. 1 — Brisbane, Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Sept. 4 — Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
Sept. 9 — Adelaide, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Sept. 12 — Perth, Perth Arena

By winning best original song at the 98th Oscars on Sunday (March 15), “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters set several records. The global smash became the first Kpop song to win an Oscar; the first song with more than four writers to win an Oscar; and the first best song winner where all of the writers won’t receive an individual trophy.

“Golden” has seven credited writers. Previously, no song with more than four writers had won in this category. (The songs with four co-writers that won are “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do” from Arthur and “Shallow” from A Star Is Born.)

The Motion Picture Academy has a strict rule that it will award no more than four statuettes in this category. If a song has five or more co-writers, as is the case with “Golden,” the writers must sign an agreement that, should they win, they will share one statuette. They will all forever be known as Oscar winners. They just won’t each have a shiny trophy to show for it.

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Here’s another record “Golden” set: EJAE, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park are the first songwriters who were born in South Korea to win in this category. (The other co-writer, Mark Sonnenblick, was born in the U.S.)

But songs have been setting records in the best original song category for decades. Here are 25 other songs that have set records in this category since it was first presented in 1935. The years shown are the year of the Oscar ceremony.

KPop Demon Hunters was a double winner at the 98th Oscars on Sunday (March 15). The hit Netflix film won best animated feature, while a song from the film, “Golden,” won best original song. KPop Demon Hunter is just the fourth film to win in both categories, following Toy Story 3 in 2011, Frozen in 2014 and Coco in 2018.

The award for best animated feature was first presented in 2002.

Animated films have a rich history at the Academy Awards. Walt Disney received a special award in 1938 for the previous year’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was “recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon.”

Fifty years later, Richard Williams received a special achievement award for the animation direction of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film also won three competitive Oscars.

But it wasn’t until 1991’s Beauty and the Beast that an animated film was nominated for best picture. Throughout the ’90s, the Oscars resisted adding a category for animated features, though John Lasseter received a special achievement award in 1996 “for his inspired leadership of the Pixar Toy Story team, resulting in the first feature-length computer-animated film.”

In 2001, the Academy finally added a category for best animated feature, with Shrek becoming the first winner in 2002. While the first two Toy Story films were released before the introduction of the category, Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 both won in this category. (Toy Story 5 is scheduled for release in June 2026.)

Here’s a year-by-year recap of all the Oscar winners for best animated feature film. The years shown are the years of the awards presentation.

“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters took home the prize for best original song at Sunday’s 2026 Oscars following a triumphant performance from the singing voices of HUNTR/X, but EJAE and company’s heartfelt speech ended up being cut short when one of her collaborators was prematurely played off.

By winning best original song at the 98th Oscars, “Golden” set several records, becoming the first K-pop song to win an Oscar; the first song with more than four writers to win an Oscar; and the first best song winner where all of the writers won’t receive an individual trophy.

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“Golden” has seven credited writers – EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park. Previously, no song with more than four writers had won in this category.

EJAE — who is also one of three singing voices of the film’s central girl group HUNTR/X, alongside AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI — spoke first for the group of songwriters on Sunday night, emphasizing the song’s message of “resilience.”

“Thank you so much to the Academy for this insane award,” EJAE began. “Growing up, people made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone’s singing our song and all the Korean lyrics. I’m so proud. And I realized, the song, this award is not about success; it’s about resilience. And I’m just so grateful to our team, and just want to thank my mom, my dad, my brother, my fiance, my manager, of course, for always staying with me. And I also want to thank, of course, the resilient cast of KPop Demon Hunters. Thank you so much to [directors] Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and our producer, Michelle Wang. Thank you so much for the film. Thank you to Netflix. Thank you Sony Animation.”

EJAE wrapped her speech by naming many of the collaborators onstage behind her, but when one of her co-writers jumped in to add his thank-you’s, the music loudly kicked in and drowned out what he was saying, as the Oscars abruptly went to commercial break.

The Motion Picture Academy has a strict rule that it will award no more than four statuettes in this category. If a song has five or more co-writers, as is the case with “Golden,” the writers must sign an agreement that, should they win, they will share one statuette. They will all forever be known as Oscar winners; they just won’t each have a shiny trophy to show for it.

Here’s the rule, verbatim, from the rulebook for the 98th Oscars. “No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category. A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal writers of a song. The Music Branch Executive Committee has the right, in what it alone determines to be a very rare and extraordinary circumstance, to award a fourth statuette. In cases where five or more credited songwriters function as collaborators, a single statuette may be awarded to the group. Each songwriter must agree to the single “group statuette” option by signing and returning a Group Award form prior to the submission deadline. Final determination of the awardable songwriters in the group will be made by the Music Branch Executive Committee.”

“Golden” had already made K-pop awards show history. On Feb. 1, it became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy when it won best song written for visual media. “Golden” also won best original song at the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.

This year’s other Oscar nominees for best original song were: “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren; “I Lied to You” from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson; “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike and “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave.

In addition to original song, KPop Demon Hunters also won the Oscar for best animated feature film on Sunday.

Here are two other Oscar records “Golden” set:

Longest-running No. 1 hit to win an Oscar for best original song in more than 20 years

“Golden” is only the third song that spent eight or more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to win an Oscar. The first two were “You Light Up My Life” from the film of the same name (Debby Boone’s cover version spent 10 weeks on top in 1977) and “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile (Eminem’s original version spent 12 weeks on top in 2002-03).

Moreover, “Golden” is the first song that had already hit No. 1 to win an Oscar since “Lose Yourself.” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow” had climbed as high as No. 5 before the Oscar telecast in 2019. It zoomed to No. 1 (for one week) after it won and after the two stars memorably performed the song on the show.

Six of the seven writers are the first South Koreans to win in this category

EJAE, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park were all born in South Korea. (The other co-writer, Mark Sonnenblick, was born in the U.S.) Karen O, who was born in South Korea, was nominated 12 years ago for co-writing “The Moon Song” from Her, but the award went to “Let It Go” from Frozen.

For one of the most anticipated moments of the night, the singing voices of KPop Demon Hunters‘ girl group HUNTR/X — AUDREY NUNA, REI AMI AND EJAE — made sure to deliver on the Oscars stage.

The trio performed the movie’s smash hit, “Golden,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, and in doing so brought the film’s underlying message to the masses.

As dancers filled the stage, the voice of film character Celine echoed throughout the Dolby Theater in Hollywood: “Our music unites the soul and brings people together,” she says, as heard in her opening monologue from the film, in which she shares the purpose behind HUNTR/X.

At that, the stage was fittingly bathed in gold as NUNA, REI AMI and EJAE emerged dressed in all white — outfits surely inspired by their characters’ final performance in the film, only here done up Oscars style.

And as their voices soared, a wide shot of the audience showed that every single member — including Hollywood’s elite such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio and Teyana Taylor — was waving lighsticks that are central to K-pop performances.

Moments after the performance, it was announced that “Golden” made history as the first K-pop song to win the original song Oscar. While accepting the trophy, EJAE said through tears: “People made fun of me for liking K-pop, but now everyone is singing our song.”

In February, “Golden” also made history at the Grammys for becoming the first K-pop song to win an award (for best song written for visual media).

Watch the full performance below: