Bear McCreary (born 1979) is an American composer known for his work on film, television, and video game soundtracks.
McCreary has received multiple awards and nominations during his career. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for the first season of "Outlander" in 2015. He also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for "Da Vinci's Demons" and two Children's and Family Emmy Awards for his work on "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". In video games, he received British Academy Games Awards and D.I.C.E. Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition for "God of War" and "God of War Ragnarök". He has also been nominated for several Grammy Awards.
McCreary was raised in Bellingham, Washington. He is the son of author Laura Kalpakian and University of Hawaii at Manoa professor Jay McCreary. His brother, Brendan McCreary, is also a musician. McCreary directed and produced several music videos for Brendan's band, Young Beautiful in a Hurry. He graduated from Bellingham High School in 1997.
He is a classically trained pianist and a self-taught accordionist. McCreary studied under film composer Elmer Bernstein, during which time he reconstructed and reorchestrated Bernstein's 1963 score for "Kings of the Sun". Their collaboration led to the complete score being released as a soundtrack album for the first time in four decades.
In 2003, McCreary worked with composer Richard Gibbs on the miniseries that served as a pilot for the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica". When the television series was commissioned, Gibbs stepped away from full-time involvement and McCreary became the primary composer. He scored more than 70 episodes between 2004 and 2009. Several soundtrack albums from the series were later released. McCreary also composed music for the prequel series "Caprica" and "Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome".
McCreary composed the score for the television series "Human Target", based on the DC Comics character. The series featured orchestral recordings, including a large ensemble used for the season one finale episode "Christopher Chance". In 2010, he received his first Emmy Award nomination for the series' main title music. Later that year, McCreary announced that he would not return for the second season following changes in the show's creative leadership.
He composed the opening title music for the television series "Black Sails", which incorporated influences from sea shanties and featured the hurdy-gurdy. McCreary also composed the score for all seasons of "Outlander". The series' main title theme was performed by singer Raya Yarbrough, a long-time collaborator and later his wife.
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2010, McCreary announced that he would compose music for "The Walking Dead" and "The Cape". In 2013, he was announced as composer for "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", and the official soundtrack album was released in 2015.
McCreary served as orchestral producer for the rock opera "Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem", a continuation of the "Metalocalypse" franchise featuring the fictional band Dethklok. The production included a 50-piece orchestra. He also composed music for the television series "Snowpiercer", "Masters of the Universe: Revelation", and "Foundation", the latter based on Isaac Asimov's novels.
In 2022, McCreary composed the score for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power". He stated that he had been a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien since childhood and described the project as a "dream come true".
Before becoming established as a film composer, McCreary contributed additional music and conducting to films including "My Baby's Daddy" and "Johnson Family Vacation". He later composed scores for the direct-to-video films "Rest Stop" and "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End". His theatrical film debut as a primary composer was "Step Up 3D".
McCreary collaborated with director Joe Lynch on films including "Chillerama", "Knights of Badassdom", and "Everly". The soundtrack for "Everly" included a duet performed by McCreary and Raya Yarbrough.
He has also worked repeatedly with directors Christopher Landon and McG. His collaborations with Landon include "Happy Death Day", "Happy Death Day 2U", and "Freaky", while his collaborations with McG include "Rim of the World" and "The Babysitter: Killer Queen".
Other films scored by McCreary include "Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie", "10 Cloverfield Lane", "The Cloverfield Paradox", "Child's Play", "Godzilla: King of the Monsters", "Ava", and "Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank". In 2023, he replaced Thomas Newman as composer for "The Last Voyage of the Demeter", directed by André Øvredal.
In video games, McCreary created an eight-bit rendition of the theme for "Dark Void", which was later used in the prequel game "Dark Void Zero". He composed the music using modified Nintendo Entertainment System hardware to emulate authentic retro sound. He also arranged "You're a Mean One, Mr. Nerd", a parody featured in an "Angry Video Game Nerd" Christmas special.
McCreary performed with an orchestra during Sony's E3 2016 press conference and composed the score for the 2018 video game "God of War", which introduced Norse mythology to the franchise. He returned to compose music for "God of War Ragnarök" in 2022 and its 2023 expansion "Valhalla". McCreary also appeared in the game as a minor dwarf character named Raeb, whose name is "Bear" spelled backwards. In 2026, he returned to compose the score for "God of War Sons of Sparta", which revisited the franchise's Greek mythology setting and incorporated Greek folk instruments alongside chiptune influences.
In 2021, McCreary composed the score for "Call of Duty: Vanguard".
In 2024, McCreary announced the release of the concept album "The Singularity", co-written and co-produced with Brendan McCreary. The album featured contributions from numerous musicians and performers, including Rufus Wainwright, Slash, Serj Tankian, Corey Taylor, Joe Satriani, Scott Ian, Billy Boyd, and others. It was accompanied by a graphic novel published by Image Comics and Black Market Narrative, featuring spoken-word performances by actors Lee Pace, Danai Gurira, and Ryan Hurst.
For 2027, McCreary's musical "Particle Fever" is scheduled to debut at La Jolla Playhouse. The production will feature a book by David Henry Hwang and music and lyrics co-written with Zoe Sarnak.