I’m Just Ken, the power ballad belted out by Ryan Gosling in Barbie, has already gotten a slot on the Billboard Hot 100 and an SNL parody – and now it’s got a Grammy nomination.
The 66th Grammy nominations were announced on Friday, among them I’m Just Ken for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Actually, Barbie just about dominated that category, with Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice Featuring Aqua’s Barbie World, Dua Lipa’s Dance the Night, and Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For? also scoring nominations. The only non-Barbie nominee in the category is Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
2/2: Congratulations 66th #GRAMMYs Best Song Written For Visual Media nominees: "I'm Just Ken" [From 'Barbie The Album'] - @ryangosling; "Lift Me Up" - @rihanna; and "What Was I Made For?" [From 'Barbie The Album'] - @billieeilish. Watch live: https://t.co/zovEzgeZPG
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) November 10, 2023
We should note, however, that this doesn’t mean that Gosling has scored his first Grammy nomination. Since I’m Just Ken is nominated for songwriting, writers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt are the actual nominees.
Barbie Domination
Overall, Barbie had a very strong showing at this morning’s Grammy nominations, also scoring nods for Best Original Score alongside Oppenheimer, The Fabelmans, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In particular, What Was I Made for? alone got five nominations, including Song and Record of the Year.
Basically, if this is any preview for the Oscars, we should maybe expect the Academy to show Barbie some love.
On the games front, the scores for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Sarah Schachner), God of War Ragnarok (Bear McCreary), Hogwarts Legacy (Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy & Chuck E. Myers "Sea"), Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab), and Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Jess Serro, Tripod & Austin Wintory) were nominated.
One snub I have to point out, though: nothing for another hit power ballad, Jack Black’s Peaches from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Fingers crossed for the Oscars.
You can see the full list of Grammy nominations here.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
