Brandi Carlile’s top song collaborations

SEATTLE — The Grammys? Brandi Carlile has been there and done that — and will undoubtedly do it again. However, the hometown music hero will walk a less familiar red carpet this Sunday when the Oscars take over Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre (4 p.m., ABC) to celebrate the best and brightest from the silver screen.

The guitar-wielding vocal dynamo has a chance to diversify her mantle pieces this year, having earned her first Oscar nomination alongside hero-pal Elton John. The musical buds teamed up on “Never Too Late,” the title track to a documentary film chronicling John’s life and career as his extended farewell tour wound down with a Dodger Stadium run in 2022. (The piano pounder may have hung up his touring boots, but he’s not completely retired: John and Carlile are set to release a collaborative album, “Who Believes in Angels?” on April 4.)

Over the years, Carlile has proved herself a prolific, down-to-jam collaborator and the Oscar nom got us thinking: Where does “Never Too Late” rank on her ever-growing list of duets and features? Is it even her best joint number with John?

Since every superfluous music-nerd debate needs some ground rules, for this exercise we’re only considering original studio recordings initially released with both artists. This means things like that heart-stirring rendition of “Party of One,” rereleased with Sam Smith, or her work on Joni Mitchell’s Grammy-winning live album are off-limits.

And to level the playing field, we’re also excluding Carlile’s full-band album with country supergroup The Highwomen — (too easy) — to instead focus on one-offs and features.

So, without further ado here are Carlile’s top 10 collabs.

10. Maren Morris ft. Brandi Carlile, “Common”

Months before the Highwomen record came out, Carlile connected with pop country star Maren Morris on this high-gloss single from Morris’ sophomore album, “Girl.” While leading to a best country duo/group performance nomination at the 2020 Grammys, their best collaborations were on the horizon.

9. Dave Matthews Band ft. Brandi Carlile, “Come Tomorrow”

Any Carlile fan who can’t stomach DMB ought to keep moving. Carlile takes a hopeful stroll with her Seattle buddy on the slightly saccharine title track from Dave Matthews Band’s 2018 album, aglow with radiant arrangements.

8. The Secret Sisters ft. Brandi Carlile, “Water Witch”

Potent as a double dose of peyote, this spaghetti western rocker from The Secret Sister’s Carlile-produced album “Saturn Return” flickers like a desert mirage. There’s a sense of mystic danger in this tune that’s hard to resist.

7. Rufus Wainwright ft. Brandi Carlile, “Down in the Willow Garden”

I was trying to avoid cover songs, but I’m a sucker for a murder ballad and this one off Wainwright’s 2023 “Folkocracy” album is just too good. The heavyweight singer-songwriter’s take on this traditional folk song, an extra dark weeper, singing in haunting unison over mournful acoustic guitar strums that plod along like a three-minute gallows walk. Shivers.

6. Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile, “A Beautiful Noise”

This no-brainer of a pairing worked as well in practice as it did on paper. Backed by a group of renowned songwriters (including Brandy Clark), the song was conceived as a get-out-the-vote number released days before the 2020 presidential election. The Recording Academy certainly couldn’t resist the star-powered piano ballad, nominating it for song of the year in 2022.

5. Elton John and Brandi Carlile, “Never Too Late”

It might be an imperfect barometer, but it’s fun to see how much Carlile has evolved as a singer and songwriter since these two first linked up on the fleet-footed “Caroline” off Carlile’s 2009 album “Give Up the Ghost.” The close friends also partnered up on dusty country rocker “Simple Things” off Elton’s pandemic album “The Lockdown Sessions,” produced by Pearl Jam’s buddy Andrew Watt. It could be recency bias, but of the three songs, “Never Too Late” feels the most timeless, so we’ll give it the edge here. At least until their new album, also produced by Watt, comes out.

4. Hozier ft. Brandi Carlile, “Damage Gets Done”

Ever since “The Joke” blew up, Carlile has been a no-brainer first call whenever artists need to give a classic ballad some oomph. Credit Hozier’s camp for hearing what Carlile can do in a very different setting. Toying with ideas of youthful recklessness, “Damage Gets Done” pulls Carlile into a synth-draped world with shimmering guitars and lightly hazy, ’80s-evoking production as their voices poignantly intertwine. Part of the fun of these collabs is hearing artists step into each others’ worlds, and both parties nailed this one.

3. Miley Cyrus ft. Brandi Carlile, “Thousand Miles”

Speaking of stepping into other worlds, few would’ve had Brandi Carlile singing over 808 electronic drums on their bingo cards before this link-up with Cyrus. The pop star continued to put her twerk-happy, “Bangerz”-with-a-z era in the rearview with 2023’s “Endless Summer Vacation,” containing more grown-up-feeling dance-pop and country-lite dalliances. At first blush, the Cyrus-Carlile connection feels like a whiteboard pairing dreamed up in a conference room. But remember: These are two truly elite and versatile vocalists working around popular music’s highest tiers. “Thousand Miles” is an impeccable country-coded pop song, even if the all-star tandem doesn’t throw the vocal haymakers we know they’re capable of here. Our only gripe with this Grammy-nominated gem? More Carlile in the mix, please.

2. Marcus Mumford ft. Brandi Carlile, “How”

One understated aspect of Carlile’s career, especially as a collaborator, is her ability to make genuine, meaningful connections with people. Nowhere does that show up stronger than this beautifully devastating song with Marcus Mumford, the closing track to his visceral 2022 solo album where Mumford addresses childhood sexual abuse. “How” is intensely raw and honest songwriting, with Mumford doing all of the emotional heavy lifting, confronting (and ultimately forgiving) his abuser while Carlile’s voice shows up like the hand on the shoulder of a friend working through it.

1. Brandy Clark ft. Brandi Carlile, “Dear Insecurity”

Am I being a homer for ranking this No. 1? Perhaps. But home state fans needed a duet with the Washington Brandies, and savory as “Same Devil” (which arrived a few years earlier) was, “Dear Insecurity” delivered higher rewards. It also delivered Clark her first Grammy win last year. The standout track from Clark’s Carlile-produced album finds the Americana stars gracefully crooning with their feet never touching the ground, as if swept up by the supple string section from Carlile’s band. It’s textbook balladry from two artists who take their craft very seriously.