Who Are the Osage Singers? All About the 'Killers of the Flower Moon' Musicians
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Osage Singers in 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
Scott George and the Osage Singers featured in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon and on the film's soundtrack made history even before the 2024 Oscars.
George is the first Native American man and first member of the Osage Nation ever nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar. His song "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" earned the historic nod from the Killers of the Flower Moon soundtrack.
The Osage Singers will perform the track at the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony. Get to know the musicians and composers behind the song.
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Related: Everything to Know About Killers of the Flower Moon
Who is Scott George?
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Scott George has been a musician and composer longer than any of Killers of the Flower Moon star Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriends have been alive, but the film was the first time he ever composed music specifically for a movie. George is also credited as a music consultant on the film.
"Our intention was … after the movie's over, we could use it to honor our own people whenever something comes up," George told The Hollywood Reporter, noting that he and the Osage Nation didn't want to use a genuine Osage ceremonial song in the film for fear it'd be copied or misused publicly. "After the movie's over with, we'll probably attend a dance somewhere; it's not really a ceremony, but it's an action where we’re going to announce that we’re going to place this song on the drum, which means it's public at that point, that anybody can sing it."
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George, who's been playing drums and singing since he was a teen, couldn't believe he'd made the Academy Awards shortlist, telling The Wrap in February 2024, "Even to this day, I'm not finding words to explain or express it. We had tuned into a morning show, and they drag it out for a good 45 minutes. So I'm sitting here, getting dressed, I'm supposed to be at a meeting two hours away. And I'm waiting, waiting, waiting. I get a text from Chad Renfro, who is our tribal liaison with Apple. And he said, 'You made the nomination.'"
Despite the success he's had with Killers of the Flower Moon, he isn't certain he'd do more soundtrack or movie work in the future.
"I've been singing for 40-plus years, and I consider myself on the tail end of that life," he said, noting that the long hours were strenuous. "It takes a lot out of your arm or your lungs and everything else. So to get involved in something like that, it would just have to be the right situation."
George will also keep his role as Drumkeeper, he told Osage News, a position he's held since 1983.
Aside from his work as a musician and composer, George also serves as the director for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Housing Department, responsible for helping low-income members find homes and accommodations.
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Who are the Osage Singers?
George is the "head singer" of the Osage Singers, per The Hollywood Reporter. In the movie, two dozen singers worked together performing around the drum for "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)."
"Although we are not considered musicians by our own people, being referred to as 'drummers and singers,' we have studied our songs and pursued this lifestyle all of our lives," George told Tulsa World of the Osage Tribal Singers. "Our commitment and dedication to retaining our culture, language and ceremonial songs has been a lifetime of study, as our music is not written down, it's all retained by memory."
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When does "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" play in Killers of the Flower Moon?
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"Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" plays at the very end of Killers of the Flower Moon. It's a moving shot, reportedly filmed with a camera on a crane, zooming out to show the Osage people forming a circle that looks like a flower moon—and ending the film with a distinct image of a colorful, hopeful and joyous Osage people and a native perspective.
George said that the cinematography of the scene was tricky in the moment.
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"We were kind of clueless as to how that was going to come about or how that was going to look, but we did have a couple of issues while they were raising the camera," he explained to The Wrap. "Our sticks came in close contact with the camera that hovered over our ground. We had to watch what we were doing there. So it was tight, and there’s the lighting and shadows and all that stuff. But it was really kind of fun, though it was on one of the hottest days of the month in Oklahoma, which is known for its sweltering heat days."
The song is drum-heavy and lasts more than six minutes long, and it was written specifically for the film after Scorsese and George declined to use one of the Osage Nation's existing 200+ ceremonial songs. George told The Hollywood Reporter, "We kind of knew what he wanted, but because that's our ceremonial [music], we didn't know how we were going to deliver that. We don't really allow cameras in there. We talked about it and said, 'We'll just have to make our own song.'"
