When the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday (Jan. 23), Diane Warren found herself nominated for best original song for the 16th time. Warren, never one to rest on her laurels, is already back with a song that may be put her back in the running at the 2026 Oscars – “Dear Me,” sung by Kesha in the new the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless.
Warren was already a hit-making songwriter when Kesha was born in 1987. Little-known fact: Kesha’s mother, “Pebe” Sebert, was a member of the songwriting community as Warren was breaking in (though the two writers never collaborated). Sebert co-wrote Joe Sun’s 1978 single “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You),” which reached No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. A cover version by Dolly Parton reached No. 1 in 1980.
“We all know that Diane Warren is one of the most iconic songwriters of our time, but many people don’t know that my connection with her is multigenerational,” Kesha said in a statement. “My mom used to write songs alongside Diane Warren in the ’80s. I’ve heard her name in our home growing up since I was a baby. Once my music broke into the scene in 2008, we have worked on projects together … but none of them ever were publicly released.”
“I’ve written a lot of songs for movies but this is the first time I’ve ever written a song for a movie that’s about me,” Warren said in a statement. “This song isn’t just about me though, it’s for anyone who’s ever wished they could have a conversation with their younger self and tell them no matter what they’re going through that it’s going to get better. When I was thinking who would be the perfect artist for this, I could think of no one better or more authentic than Kesha. I felt that not only is she a great artist who would sing the song magnificently which of course she did, but that this would also speak to her and her fans on a very deep level.”
Diane Warren: Relentless, directed by Bess Kargman, is currently in theaters and streaming exclusively on MasterClass.
It’s fairly rare for a song from a documentary to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song, but it does happen. Just this year, “Never Too Late” from the Disney + doc Elton John: Never Too Late was nominated, where it is competing with Warren’s “The Journey” from the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight. Elton John co-wrote “Never Too Late” with Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin.
Billboard’s Stephen Daw wrote warmly about “Dear Me” (released on Kemosabe/RCA Records) in his Queer Jams of the Week column. “For her contribution to the new documentary Diane Warren: Relentless, Kesha decided to strip back the artifice and sing from the heart. The result is “Dear Me,” a Warren-penned, Guy Roche-produced ballad where Kesha looks back on her younger self and offers some salient advice — primarily, to know that she can get through whatever pain comes her way. It’s no surprise that Kesha sounds as good as she does here; it is surprising, though, to get such a poignant song in a week when so many of us need to hear this.”