It was a good Monday morning (Dec. 11) for some first-time Golden Globe nominees, who woke up to the news that they were in the running at the 75th Jan. 7 event hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
After penning hits for everyone from Britney Spears to Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber and Kelly Clarkson, songwriter Justin Tranter got on the Foreign Press’ radar thanks to “Home,” the song he co-wrote with Nick Jonas and Nick Monson for the animated film Ferdinand. “I’m beyond honored! A Grammy nomination for ‘Issues,’ and now a Golden Globe nomination for ‘Home,’ how is life even real?” Tranter tells Billboard about his nomination.
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“‘Home’ is so special to me because as a young queer kid I was bullied in the worst ways possible at school, but at home I always felt so safe and celebrated. Working with Nick Jonas is always fucking fabulous and I love seeing him get the recognition he deserves for his real-deal talent.”
I can’t believe this! A golden globe nomination!? @nickjonas #monson @ferdinandmovie WOW! This song is so special to me, cus when I was a young queer kid I was beyond bullied at school, but at #Home I was always SO safe. My family thought my fem ways were fucking fabulous!
— Justin Tranter (@justtranter) December 11, 2017
Jonas’ dad and his Ferdinand family were pretty psyched as well.
Congratulations @nickjonas on your #GoldenGlobes nomination!!!!! https://t.co/5N3k2Vn9bx
— KevinJonasSr (@PapaJonas) December 11, 2017
The man behind our favorite #Ferdinand song #HOME is here! —- Welcome @NickJonas to the red carpet. pic.twitter.com/IyX8GEE5bD
— Ferdinand (@FerdinandMovie) December 10, 2017
Though she’s been nominated for just about every other music honor in the past, Mariah Carey was “truly honored” about her first Globe nomination for the title track to the animated film The Star, which she shared with veteran songwriter Marc Shaiman.
Thank you so much to the #HFPA for the Golden Globe nomination for The Star. As songwriters, myself and my dear friend and collaborator Marc Shaiman are truly honored. What a humbling experience to be included in this group of amazing songwriters. #TheStar —#GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/Hw3O11bUEY
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 11, 2017
A sincere thank you to the #HFPA for both the nomination (with @MariahCarey for “The Star”) and for the incentive for me to lose weight before Jan 7th so that I fit into my suit!
— marcshaiman (@marcshaiman) December 11, 2017
R&B icon Raphael Saadiq shared a nomination with Mary J. Blige (also nominated for best supporting actress in a motion picture for her role in Mudbound) and songwriter Taura Stinson for their inspiring ballad “Mighty River” from the WWII drama co-starring Carey Mulligan and Garrett Hedlund.
#Mudbound has earned a @goldenglobes nomination for Best Original Song for “Mighty River.” Congratulations to @maryjblige, @RaphaelSaadiq, and @TauraStinson on their work. pic.twitter.com/WTYshEMK6o
— Mudbound (@mudboundmovie) December 11, 2017
Stinson was understandably giddy about her first nomination. “At 5:30 this morning, my publicist, Ray Costa, called and told me I had been nominated. It was the best wake-up call I have ever had!,” she said in a statement. “This is my first Golden Globe nomination. I’m so honored to share the nomination with my longtime writing partner and friend, Raphael Saadiq and the amazing Queen of Hip-Hop Soul Mary J. Blige! This is the first time Mary and I have written a song together, but our second collaboration. I arranged a song she sang for Black Nativity. Mary brought the idea of a song for Mudbound to Raphael and he brought me on board. Mary gave us a play by play of the film. The inspiration for the song title “Might River” for Mudbound came from the idea of washing the mud from lives, both literally and metaphorically. The song is about the redemption of the two families featured in the film. It is a song about forgiveness and hope. We wanted to use the song as a platform to inspire and affect change.”
The other nominees in the song category were Frozen husband-wife team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for “Remember Me” from the No. 1 animated movie Coco and songwriting team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hanson) — who won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for their La La Land song “City of Stars” — for “This is Me” from the Hugh Jackman musical The Greatest Showman.
Via a statement, Pasek & Paul said, ?“Thank you so much to the Hollywood Foreign Press for nominating “This Is Me.” It’s a song about acceptance and empowerment that is elevated by the incredible performance of Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman cast. It was an honor to work with the incredibly talented team on this film, including director Michael Gracey, Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, and all involved. And of course, congratulations to all of our fellow nominees!”
Another first timer in the music category was Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who is up against some heavy hitters in the best original score category for his work on the Paul Thomas Anderson drama Phantom Thread, where he’ll face off against a quartet of previous nominees Hans Zimmer, John Williams (The Post), Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) and Carter Burwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).