2025 Oscars Backstage Music Moments You Didn’t See on TV

For the much-ballyhooed Wicked show opener, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo paid tribute to their movie musical’s predecessors by performing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz and “Home” from The Wiz. But the duo didn’t let fans desperate for a live Wicked moment down, wrapping things up together with “Defying Gravity.” And yes, of course, we got Erivo’s famous song-ending battle cry. But the real treat in the Dolby audience was the uninterrupted view of Grande standing off to the side after kissing her co-star’s hand and stepping off to the side for her solo showcase, as we watched her positively marvel at Erivo’s remarkable talent. Grande’s proud facial expressions matched many faces in the crowd, as Erivo’s film peers also looked on in awe.

The best part: We could get yet another Wicked musical moment at the 2026 Oscars, after Part 2 arrives in November.

While LISA, Doja Cat and RAYE have a new song called “Born Again,” that’s not what brought the trio together on the Oscars stage Sunday night. The pop-star trio was on hand for a tribute to the music of the James Bond franchise, with LISA tackling Wings’ 1973 Live and Let Die theme, Doja taking on Shirley Bassey’s 1971 Diamonds Are Forever theme, and RAYE covering Adele’s 2012 Skyfall theme. While the Oscars are an undeniably formal affair, a few members of the buttoned-up crowd couldn’t help but catcall for their favorite pop stars, with fans up in the balcony yelling “LISA!” “Doja!” “RAYE!” and whooping throughout the showcase. The only thing missing were K-pop concert lightsticks.

The Dolby Theatre’s in-house DJ kept things light during commercial breaks, thanks to some related song choices like when he dropped Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” during the first break of the night, minutes after Ari had performed the show opener with Cynthia Erivo. Following the Bond tribute, the first song played at the commercial break was “APT.,” the top five Hot 100 hit from LISA’s Blackpink bandmate ROSÉ (with Bruno Mars). Other playlist highlights included dance remixes of Bad Bunny’s “DTMF” and Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” which both got the crowd on their feet to stretch their legs with a dance break.

With a surprise appearance to present the best original song award, Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger got a standing ovation all the way up to the top balcony of the Dolby. But the most fascinating part of his appearance was when they rolled the tape listing all the nominees – and giving each track an extended songwriter interview segment, since none of the five noms were performed at Sunday’s show – and Jagger stood patiently on the dimmed stage as the package played for a few minutes. It was, without a doubt, the least anyone has seen the famously frenetic frontman move on a stage in six-plus decades.

Emilia Pérez songwriter Camille was clearly just as excited as the crowd to see Jagger, as evidenced by her “Woo-woo!” ad lib into the mic from The Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” as she accepted the best original song prize for “El Mal” alongside partner Clément Ducol. And as soon as they finished their acceptance speech, Camille instantly found her way over to Jagger to walk offstage with him, taking full advantage of her moment with a music superstar.

The most joyful moment of the night came with Queen Latifah’s musical tribute to Quincy Jones, who died in November at age 91 and had a long legacy of film music and production. As Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg introduced the musical number on the side stage, five massive screens lowered from the ceiling as dozens of stage hands and dancers bustled behind them. What came next was a cover of “Ease on Down the Road” from 1978’s The Wiz, an appropriately magical song performed by a troupe of dancers and singers led by Latifah dressed all in gold, to match the golden Oscars stage and pay tribute to a man known for his “golden ear.” For the first time all night, when the performance wrapped, the song just kept going, with Latifah & company dancing and singing offstage as announcer Nick Offerman talking into the commercial break.

It was a full-circle musical conclusion to the night (with only four awards remaining), bringing things back around to The Wizard of Oz after the Wicked duo opened the show – and included another The Wiz song, no less. Fittingly, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were front and center in the crowd for Latifah’s Quincy tribute, dancing down the Yellow Brick Road along with the Queen.