'Crazy Heart' Theme Wins Golden Globe for Best Original Song

Posted on Jan 17th 2010 9:00PM by Liz Colville
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Songwriters Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett won Best Original Song at the 67th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles Sunday night for 'The Weary Kind,' the theme song from the film 'Crazy Heart' starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Burnett accepted the award on behalf of both songwriters. This is the first Golden Globe win for both musicians.

The song was nominated alongside Sir Paul McCartney's 'I Want To Come Home' from 'Everybody's Fine;' Maury Yeston's 'Cinema Italiano,' from 'Nine;' James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell's 'I See You,' from 'Avatar;' and U2's 'Winter,' from 'Brothers.'

Ryan Bingham, a 28-year-old rodeo rider turned songwriter who performs with the band the Dead Horses, has released three albums and toured extensively, appearing on late-night talk shows including 'Conan O'Brien' and earning a song spot on 'ER.'

T-Bone Burnett, the prolific producer and songwriter, is both the producer and composer of the music in 'Crazy Heart.' He also won a Grammy in 2002 for his role as producer of the soundtrack to the Coen brothers' film 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'

The 'Crazy Heart' soundtrack, which has already received several awards this season including a Critics' Choice nod and one from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, has been deemed ineligible for an Oscar for Best Original Score, along with several other soundtracks including that of 'Where The Wild Things Are,' featuring songs by Karen O, and 'The Lovely Bones,' composed by Brian Eno.

According to Hollywood news site the Wrap, the Academy stipulates that "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible." While the reason for the disqualification has not been confirmed, all three movies rely heavily on songs throughout.