MINNEAPOLIS — One of Minnesota's most acclaimed singer-songwriters and member of the iconic 90s band Semisonic, Dan Wilson, was nominated for an Academy Award Tuesday for his work on the Netflix documentary, "American Symphony."
Adding to an already impressive resume, Wilson was acknowledged with co-writing "It Never Went Away," alongside five-time Grammy-winner Jon Batiste, who together with Wilson will contend for the statue in the Oscar's Best Original Song category.
The Oscar-nominated ballad closes out the film, which follows Batiste and his partner, writer Suleika Jaouad, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. It's during this time that Batiste's career really begins to take off, as he attempts to write a symphony, while also being nominated for almost a dozen Grammys.
Batiste released a statement about the song when it was released, saying it "describes a love that survives all conditions of the physical world."
"It raises the question of our mortality, while evoking the lasting quality of our deepest desires. That part of us that protests against the evils of the physical world is, in fact, evidence of our perpetual nature," he said.
St. Louis Park-native Wilson, who first made it big with Semisonic's giant 1998 hit, "Closing Time," has kept himself busy over the years, working with artists like Taylor Swift, Nas, Weezer and Pink, among many, many others. Wilson's credits also include Grammy wins for his work on The Chicks' 2007 Song of the Year, "Not Ready to Make Nice" and Adele's 2012 Album of the Year, "21."
Wilson's first Grammy nomination came in 1999 for "Closing Time," but was ultimately beat out by Alanis Morissette's, "Uninvited."
For Wilson's first Academy Award nomination, he and Batiste will go against:
- "The Fire Inside" by Diane Warren for "Flamin' Hot"
- "I'm Just Ken" by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for "Barbie"
- "Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" by Scott George for "Killers of the Flower Moon"
- "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell for "Barbie
The 96th Annual Academy Awards air on March 10, 2024.
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