Billboard looks at Oscars Best Original Song history and whether Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ track could join Hot 100 No. 1 winners

Taylor Swift’s contribution to the next “Toy Story” film has become a talking point in Oscar anticipation circles, after Billboard highlighted a statistical crossover between the Academy Awards’ Best Original Song winners and songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The magazine’s list examines which past Best Original Song winners have also topped the Hot 100, and it places Swift’s “Toy Story 5” song in the broader context of that history.

In its coverage, Billboard cautioned that there is no guarantee the “Toy Story 5” track will win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Even with chart momentum, Oscar outcomes are determined through the Academy’s voting process rather than by radio, streaming, or sales performance alone. Billboard’s framing is therefore focused on where the song stands relative to a measurable prior trend, not on an assured result.

The Billboard article’s organizing premise is that some Best Original Song winners have historically shared a chart peak at the top of the Hot 100. By cataloging those cases, the outlet argues that the category has produced occasional “double winners” for industry gatekeepers and mass audiences, in which a song’s mainstream reach aligns with its recognition by the Oscars.

The headline emphasis also reflects a specific threshold: Billboard’s compilation is presented as a ranking of the “Best Original Song” winners whose songs hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, and it positions Swift’s “Toy Story 5” song as a potential candidate for that kind of list. Billboard does not claim inevitability, and the article’s language leaves room for the practical reality that many factors influence award outcomes.

Billboard’s approach underscores how chart placement can serve as a public proxy for audience reach, while Oscars recognition remains a separate institutional decision. For entertainment companies and rights holders, that separation matters because it affects how audiences discover songs through mainstream platforms and how industry stakeholders anticipate awards-season visibility.

As of the publication of Billboard’s article on Aug. 3, 2026, the central point for Swift’s track is comparative: it has “a lot going for it,” in Billboard’s characterization, in terms of the kind of crossover the outlet’s list highlights. The next step, in the ordinary course of the awards calendar, is whether the song’s campaign and reception within the Academy’s membership culminate in a Best Original Song win.

For viewers and music fans, the matchup between chart performance and award recognition is likely to remain a standard storyline in awards season. Billboard’s list provides a historical reference set, but the outcome for Swift’s “Toy Story 5” track will depend on the Academy vote rather than on Hot 100 status alone. Billboard’s piece functions as context for what would be notable about a win that also matches the Hot 100 peak pattern.

When the Academy Award outcome is announced, the result will confirm whether Swift’s “Toy Story 5” song joins the subset of past Best Original Song winners that have also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, as categorized by Billboard. If it does, it would add another example to the magazine’s record of chart and awards convergence; if it does not, it would reinforce Billboard’s own caution that chart success does not determine Oscars results.