Nine Inch Nails leader Trent Reznor and longtime musical partner Atticus Ross won the Golden Globe for Best Original Score last night (Jan. 5) for Challengers, the love triangle film starring Zendaya. It was the pair’s third Golden Globe win in the category, following victories for The Social Network in 2011 and Soul in 2021.
The award was presented by Elton John and Brandi Carlile, with John letting out a loud “yay” after announcing Reznor and Ross as the winners.
“The music that revealed itself as the voice of the Challengers never felt like a safe choice, but it always felt like the right one,” Ross said during his acceptance speech, and also acknowledged Challengers director Luca Guadagnino as well as he and Reznor’s respective wives Mariqueen and Claudia.
“To be honest, we always thought we’d get the call, ‘Can you just turn it down a little?’ But it never came, and here we are,” he said of the score’s dance-leaning sound.
Reznor and Ross’ “Compress/Repress” lost in the Best Original Song category to “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez, which was written by Camille and Clément Ducol. “Songs are butterflies and we need butterflies even if it’s to denounce corruption in the world,” said Camille.