Robbie Robertson, the legendary musician who performed with the Band and frequently collaborated with Martin Scorsese, earned a posthumous Academy Award nomination for scoring Killers of the Flower Moon, marking his first-ever Oscar nod.
The Canadian artist completed the Killers of the Flower Moon score before his death at 80 in August. Robertson and Scorsese struck up a friendship after the director filmed the Band's final concert for the documentary The Last Waltz, and Robertson contributed music to many of Scorsese's films, including The King of Comedy, The Color of Money, and The Irishman.
Based on David Grann's best-selling 2017 book, Killers of the Flower Moon chronicles the Osage Reign of Terror, when a group of white people in 1920s Oklahoma targeted and systematically murdered wealthy Osage people. Scorsese has said that Robertson particularly connected with Killers of the Flower Moon as an Indigenous person himself, calling him "one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work."
"I could always go to him as a confidante," Scorsese said in a statement after Robertson's death. "A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him. Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life — me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band's music, and Robbie's own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys."
In all, Killers of the Flower Moon earned a whopping 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Lily Gladstone, Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro, and Best Director for Scorsese. It’s the 10th time that Scorsese has been nominated for Best Director, making him the most-nominated living filmmaker.
The 96th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 10, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC. See the full list of 2024 Oscar nominations.
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