Music performances at 2024 Oscars ranked: Bocelli, Eilish, and Gosling rocking with Slash

From sixth to first, the songs from a ceremony that brought excitement and surprising cameos

Ryan Gosling performs I'm Just Ken from Barbie during the Oscars ceremony. Reuters / Mike Blake

Let’s face it, without its musical performances, the Oscars ceremony would be a drudgery of names being read from lists, teary acceptance speeches and strained quips.

It is the music that keeps the night emotionally charged, pulling and relieving tension throughout the three-and-a-half-hour event.

This year’s ceremony featured several exciting performances, and there were some surprising cameos, each bringing a new twist to songs and compositions featured in last year's biggest films.

Though each act was rousing in its own way, some stood out more than others. Here are the musical performances of the 2024 Oscars ranked – it's not fair to say worst to best, so let's say from ones that we'd likely forget sooner rather than later, to the ones that will stick with us for some time.

6. The Fire Inside

It made sense that the backdrop was aflame as Becky G took to the stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre.

The singer began her performance of The Fire Inside alone and was soon joined by a group of 10 girls. The performance intensified as a choir appeared on the sides of the stage, along with a fully fledged orchestra raised above the fire. As powerful a performance as it was, the night would go on to deliver several spectacles that would outshine it.

The Fire Inside was written by Diane Warren for the Eva Longoria-directed film Flamin’ Hot. The film tells the story of Richard Montanez, the janitor at Frito Lay who came up with the idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

5. Time To Say Goodbye

Andrea Bocelli and his son Mateo Bocelli performed during the ceremony’s In Memoriam section, which paid tribute to the talents that died in the past year. The performance featured stunning choreography and a string section.

It was a beautiful reinterpretation of the song, which was originally released by Bocelli in 1995 as Con te partiro, before its English version came out a year later as a duet with British singer Sarah Brightman.

The memoriam segment began with a recorded message from Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition figure who died last month. A quote from Navalny, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature last year, was then displayed: “The only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”

Figures honoured during the memoriam performance included Harry Belafonte, Paul Reubens, Matthew Perry, Norman Jewison, Melinda Dillon, Julian Sands, Carl Weathers, Treat Williams and Burt Young. Their names, photos and clips from some of their most renowned performances were displayed on the screen in the background.

4. It Never Went Away

Jon Batiste has always had a special, expressive touch on the piano, and his performance at the Oscars exhibited this in full flair. Yet, there was something even more personal.

The composer played It Never Went Away from his Oscar-nominated film American Symphony, directed by Matthew Heineman. The documentary tells the story of how Batiste recorded his first symphony in the midst of personal struggle, as his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, faced leukaemia.

The performance was accentuated with visuals as love scenes from different films, classic and contemporary, were displayed on the circular backdrop.

3. What Was I Made For?

Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell delivered a restrained but nonetheless moving performance of the song.

The fifth single from the film Barbie was a chart-topper worldwide. The pair began with a simple vocal and piano duet, before the purple backdrop opened to reveal an orchestra that carried the ballad to the end with a lush string section.

The performance concluded to thunderous standing ovation, which must have caught Eilish by surprise as she let out a chuckle and a "whoa".

Eilish and O’Connell were then named winners of the Oscar for Best Original Song for What Was I Made For?

2. Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)

Among the most memorable performance was this song from Killers of the Flower Moon, the western crime epic directed by Martin Scorsese.

It was performed by writer Scott George, a member of the Osage Nation and the first Native American to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. George was joined on stage by other Osage singers and musicians.

The performance featured a traditional Osage dance and a hacking drum rhythm as singers chanted in contrasting tones that melded in rolling harmonies. The backdrop, meanwhile, was illuminated a deep orange, giving the impression of a setting sun.

1. I’m Just Ken

Ryan Gosling’s rock star performance shouldn’t be surprising. Yet, as the actor concluded his Barbie character’s song, the audience was enraptured with many A-listers looking towards each other in awe.

Gosling began the song from his seat behind Barbie co-star Margot Robbie, dressed in a shimmering pink suit. He then proceeded to the Dolby Theatre stage with many of his co-stars from the film dancing alongside him.

The audience sang along and twirled giant cardboard cutouts of Barbie faces before Slash, the legendary guitarist from the band Guns N' Roses, made a surprise appearance during the song’s crescendo, to play a blistering solo.

Other surprising cameos during the song included Wolfgang Van Halen and Mark Ronson.