City of Stars

"City of Stars"
Song by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone
from the album La La Land: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Length2:25
LabelInterscope
Composer(s)Justin Hurwitz
Lyricist(s)

"City of Stars" is a song performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film La La Land (2016). The music of the song was composed by Justin Hurwitz while the lyrics were provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The song won numerous awards, including the award for Best Original Song at both the 74th Golden Globe Awards and 89th Academy Awards.

Context

In the film, the song is first sung by Gosling alone as the character of Sebastian as he sings and dances on the Hermosa Beach Pier. Later in the film, it is reprised by Sebastian and Mia (Stone) during a montage of him getting ready to tour with Keith's (John Legend) band, as well as Mia quitting her job at a coffee shop and renting out a theater for her one-woman play.

Inspiration

Justin Hurwitz, the composer of the song, discussed the writing of the song:

[The song] started at the piano with me just working on demos for Damien, sending him ideas until something really sparked. It's so funny that that and "Audition" are the two songs that people seem to be responding to the most, at least so far, because they had similar processes in the sense that they had probably the least amount of fussing at the piano demo stage. [...] I was just composing it from an emotional place and thinking about the tone. I would say the tone is hopeful, but melancholy at the same time. And it kind of goes back-and-forth between cadencing in major and cadencing in minor, because I think that’s kind of what the song is about. You have these great moments and then you have these less great moments in life and in Los Angeles and we see it happen in the story. I was thinking about that idea a little bit and just trying to compose a melody that I thought was shapely and beautiful. I guess it has some jazz inflections, because it’s something Sebastian plays on the piano.

In popular culture

Cover versions

Music video

The music video was uploaded to YouTube channel on Apr 17, 2017 and has gained more than 11 Million views as of October 2021.

Accolades

Awards
Award Date of ceremony Category Result Ref.
Hollywood Music in Media Awards November 17, 2016 Best Song – Feature Film Won
Critics' Choice Awards December 11, 2016 Best Song Won
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association December 18, 2016 Best Song Won
Houston Film Critics Society January 6, 2017 Best Original Song Won
Golden Globe Awards January 8, 2017 Best Original Song Won
Satellite Awards February 19, 2017 Best Original Song Won
Academy Awards February 26, 2017 Best Original Song Won
Grammy Award January 28, 2018 Best Song Written for Visual Media Nominated

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 68
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 30
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia) 20
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 89
France (SNEP) 9
Greece Digital Songs (Billboard) 3
Hong Kong (Metro Radio) 1
Hungary (Single Top 40) 8
Ireland (IRMA)
57
Italy (FIMI) 51
Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard) 2
Japan Radio Songs (Billboard) 1
Portugal (AFP) 45
Scotland (OCC) 29
Spain (PROMUSICAE) 14
South Korea International Chart (Gaon) 2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 48
UK Singles (OCC) 53
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard) 8

Year-end charts

Chart (2017) Position
Hungary (Single Top 40) 72

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) Gold 66,666double-dagger
Italy (FIMI) Gold 25,000double-dagger
Spain (PROMUSICAE) Gold 20,000double-dagger
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 200,000double-dagger

double-dagger Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-03-25 00:17 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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