Key Takeaways
- Music Director: Michael Bearden returns as music director for the Oscars for the second consecutive year.
- Live Performances: This year, two nominated songs will be performed live during the ceremony.
- Production Team: The Oscars’ production team includes several returning members recognized with Emmy Awards.
- Broadcast Details: The 98th Oscars will be aired live on ABC and streamed on Hulu on March 15.
Musician Michael Bearden will serve as music director of The Oscars for the second year in a row, it was announced on Tuesday (Feb. 3). The Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, at The Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
Bearden — a keyboardist, arranger, conductor and composer — received a Primetime Emmy nomination for his work on last year’s Oscar telecast in the category of outstanding music direction. He had previously been nominated in that category for his work on the Super Bowl LI Halftime Show Starring Lady Gaga (2017) and One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (2022, alongside co-nominee Lee Musiker).
Bearden’s tenure as music director has coincided with the show moving away from live performances of nominated songs, in most cases, in favor of other music moments. None of the nominated songs were performed live on last year’s telecast. This year, two of the five nominees will be performed live — “Golden” from the Netflix animated phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Ryan Coogler’s horror blockbuster Sinners. HUNTR/X‘s EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI sang “Golden” in KPop Demon Hunters and are expected to be the ones to perform it on the Oscar stage. The same is true of Miles Caton, who performed “I Lied to You” in Sinners.
While the nominated songs were not performed live on last year’s show, there were several music performances. Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performed a medley of “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz, “Home” from The Wiz and “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. LISA, Doja Cat and RAYE performed a medley of title songs from three James Bond films: Live and Let Die, Diamonds Are Forever and Skyfall. Queen Latifah performed “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz in a tribute to the late music and film legend Quincy Jones. The Los Angeles Master Chorale performed “Lacrimosa” from Mozart’s “Requiem” during the In Memoriam segment. Early in the show, host Conan O’Brien performed a special-material number, “I Won’t Waste Time.”
Bearden picked up the baton as music director from Rickey Minor, who served in that capacity on the 2024 telecast.
The Oscars executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan also announced other members of their production team for the 98th Oscars. Rob Paine returns as co-executive producer, Hamish Hamilton as director and Taryn Hurd and Sarah Levine Hall rejoin the team as producers.
Writers for this year’s show include Amberia Allen, José Arroyo, Josh Comers, Dan Cronin, Jessie Gaskell, Skyler Higley, Berkley Johnson, Ian Karmel, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Carol Leifer, Todd Levin, Jon Macks, O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, Agathe Panaretos and Mike Sweeney.
Also returning to the show’s production team are production designers Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley, lighting designers Bob Dickinson and Noah Mitz and supervising choreographer Mandy Moore.
As previously announced, Jeff Ross and Sweeney also return as producers for a second time.
Kapoor, Mullan, Paine, Hamilton, Hurd, Hall, Buckley, Billingsley and Dickinson have received Emmy Awards for their work on the Oscars broadcast.
The 98th Oscars, hosted by O’Brien for the second year in a row, will be televised live on ABC and streamed live on Hulu on Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
