Taylor Swift Will Sing at the Oscars' Own Museum Weeks Before Voting

Her 'Toy Story 5' song, 'I Knew It, I Knew You,' is eligible for Best Original Song, a category that's never nominated her.

Taylor Swift will close out a night on Wilshire Boulevard that was built to honor Charlize Theron, Colman Domingo and John Carpenter.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced Thursday that Swift will perform at its sixth annual gala on Oct. 17, Rolling Stone reported. That's the Oscars' own house: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences oversees the museum. Swift has a song in contention for the next ceremony.

That song is "I Knew It, I Knew You," her hit from Toy Story 5, and it's eligible for Best Original Song, according to Rolling Stone. She has written for movies for years without a single nomination. "Beautiful Ghosts" from Cats, "Carolina" from Where the Crawdads Sing and "Only the Young" from her own documentary Miss Americana all missed.

The dates are worth reading together. On the Academy's posted calendar for the 99th Oscars, Original Song submissions are due Wednesday, Oct. 14, three days before the gala. Preliminary voting opens Dec. 7 and closes Dec. 11.

Shortlists follow on Dec. 15, and Rolling Stone noted that Best Original Song is typically one of the categories that gets one. Nominations voting runs Jan. 11 through Jan. 15, nominees are announced Jan. 21, and the ceremony is March 14, 2027. The Academy says every date is subject to change.

Rolling Stone said the gig lands right before Oscar voting season starts. The museum's own announcement was all warmth. Amy Homma, the museum's director and president, called Swift "an extraordinary talent whose work resonates around the world" in a statement, ABC News reported, and said her set would close an evening honoring three filmmakers.

The gala is a fundraiser. ABC News reported that the money goes to the museum's exhibitions, education programs and screenings, and that Carpenter, a filmmaker and composer, will be honored alongside two-time Oscar nominee Domingo and Oscar winner Theron.

Swift has played a museum benefit like this recently. At the Grammy Museum in August, she sang a mashup of "All Too Well," "I Knew It, I Knew You" and "August," ABC News reported. "All Too Well" is her one other brush with the Academy: the short film of that name was eligible for Best Live Action Short Film and didn't make the cut, Rolling Stone noted.

She may get another kind of shot someday. Rolling Stone reported that she's working on her feature directing debut, which was announced in 2022 and still has no production or release date. For now, the Academy knows her as a songwriter.

On Oct. 17, Swift gets the last song of the night. Preliminary voting opens at 9 a.m. Pacific on Dec. 7, and eight days later the Academy names the songs still in the race.

Source: Rolling Stone, retrieved October 8, 2026. Other sources: oscars.org, abcnews.com.