10 Classic Rock songs from Oscar-winning films

13 March 2024, 18:28 | Updated: 14 March 2024, 16:33

As the dust settles on the 2024 Oscars, let's look at some of the Academy Award winners that have featured some Classic Rock tunes on the soundtrack.

1. Cream - Sunshine of Your Love

   This rock classic plays during a stunning slow zoom in on Robert De Niro with murder on his mind in Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas. This 1990 gangster movie won Joe Pesci an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

   

   Cream - Sunshine of Your Love

2. The Who - Magic Bus

   The British band's 1968 single appears during the opening credits of the 1996 Tom Cruise sport agent drama Jerry Maguire. The film gave Cuba Gooding Jr a Best Supporting actor Oscar for his part as footballer Rod Tidwell.

   

   The Who - Magic Bus - Live At Leeds HQ

3. Prince – Purple Rain

   The Purple One won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score for his 1984 semi-autobiographical movie masterpiece of the same name, which also included the tunes Let's Go Crazy and When Doves Cry.

   

   Prince - Purple Rain (Official Video)

4. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising

   The pioneering comedy-horror gave Rick Baker the very first Oscar for Best Make-up in 1982 - Creedence's downhome blues memorably soundtrack David Naughton's imminent transformation from man to wolf in An American Werewolf in London.

   

   Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival (HQ - 5.1 Studio )

5. Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love

   Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes' recording of Up Where We Belong won Best Song after being included as the jukebox song to An Officer And A Gentleman in 1982, but the Mark Knopfler-penned Tunnel Of Love also appeared on the soundtrack, alongside tracks by ZZ Top, Pat Benatar and Van Morrison. The other Oscar went to Louis Gossett Jr for Best Supporting Actor.

   

   Dire Straits - Tunnel Of Love (Official Music Video)

6. George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad To The Bone

   Arnold Schwartzenegger swings into action to the sound of Thorogood's blues classic in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The 1991 film won Best Make-Up, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Special Visiual Effects at the 1992 Academy Awards.

   

   George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Bad To The Bone

7. The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter

   The 2006 crime thriller The Departed gave Martin Scorcese his only Best Director Oscar to date and also won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. The soundtrack included Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, Sail On Sailor by The Beach Boys and this Rolling Stones classic in the opening scene.

   

   The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (1969)

8. Free - All Right Now

   The 1999 black comedy American Beauty won Best Picture, Best Director for Sam Mendes, Best Actor for Kevin Spacey, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the 72nd Academy Awards. The soundtrack included Free's classic rocker, alongside tracks from The Who, Elliott Smith, Gomez, Bill Withers and Eels.

   

   Free - All Right Now

9. Tom Petty – American Girl

   Brooke Smith is depicted singing along to Petty's 1977 single as her character drives to an unexpected meeting with the horrifying "Buffalo Bill" in Jonathan Demme's thriller Silence of the Lambs. At the 1992 Oscars, the movie became only the third title (after It Happened One Night and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) to win the "Big Five" awards on the night: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins and Best Actor for Jodie Foster.

   

   Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl (Live) 1978

10. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird

    As a classic song from the 1970s, Skynyrd's Free Bird was one of the impeccable choices included on the soundtrack to the Tom Hanks vehicle Forrest Gump - it's the song that plays while Jenny climbs out onto the balcony edge. The film romped home with Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995.

    

    Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird - 7/2/1977 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium (Official)