Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer is a German film score composer and record producer born in Frankfurt am Main in 1957. He begins his musical career playing keyboards and synthesisers, and he moves to London as a teenager before later settling in the United States. He works in cinematic classical, contemporary classical, orchestral and other instrumental forms, and his scores are known for combining electronic sounds with traditional orchestral writing.

Career

Zimmer spends the early part of his career in the United Kingdom, where he writes advertising jingles for Air-Edel Associates. In 1980, he works with The Buggles and appears briefly in the video for “Video Killed the Radio Star”. During the 1980s he also works with film composer Stanley Myers, and the two co-found Lillie Yard, a London recording studio. Their collaborations include scores for Moonlighting, Success is the Best Revenge, Insignificance and My Beautiful Launderette, with a mix of orchestral writing and electronics.

In 1986, Zimmer works with David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto on the score for The Last Emperor. He then develops a solo career, with A World Apart as his first solo film score. Later in 1988, Rain Man becomes a major turning point for him, using synthesizers and steel drums and receiving an Academy Award nomination. He follows this with Driving Miss Daisy, which wins a Grammy Award.

Major film work and awards

Zimmer composes music for more than 150 films from the 1980s onwards. His best-known work includes The Lion King, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, The Last Samurai and The Dark Knight Trilogy. The Lion King brings him an Academy Award for Best Original Score and also wins additional major awards, including Golden Globe and Grammy recognition. The stage adaptation of the film later wins the Tony Award for Best Musical. His score for The Last Samurai becomes his hundredth composition and brings further award nominations and a Golden Globe.

He receives four Grammy Awards, three Classical BRIT Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award. He is also named in The Daily Telegraph’s list of Top 100 Living Geniuses. Other honours include lifetime achievement awards from the National Board of Review, ASCAP and BMI, as well as the Frederick Loewe Award.

Studios, labels and collaborations

Zimmer is the head of the film music division at DreamWorks studios. He founds Remote Control Productions, formerly known as Media Ventures, and works with other composers through the company. His Santa Monica studio uses extensive computer equipment and keyboards to create demo versions of film scores quickly. He also co-founds the London-based Lillie Yard recording studio with Stanley Myers.

He is associated with Remote Control Productions and Media Ventures Entertainment Group, and his work is linked to labels and production structures including these companies. He also collaborates with other composers and musicians across his film work, including Byrne, Sakamoto and Myers.

Personal life

Zimmer is born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and later lives in Los Angeles. His first wife is model Vicki Carolin, with whom he has a daughter, model Zoe Zimmer. He later lives with his second wife, Suzanne Zimmer, and their three children.