James Horner: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Danny Elfman
• Mark Snow
• Patrick Doyle
• Colm Wilkinson
• Jerry Goldsmith
• Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Zbigniew Preisner

• Patrick Doyle

Born:

Aug 14, 1953 in Los Angeles, CA

Genres:

Music, Soundtracks, Movies and Film Soundtracks, Classical Music

Decades Active:

1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

High

Ratings Guide

Famed for his lush, sweeping scores for films including Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Titanic, the prolific composer James Horner was born in Los Angeles on August 14, 1953; educated at London's Royal College of Music as well as local universities USC and UCLA, he landed his first motion picture assignments during the 1970s, scoring B-movies like The Lady in Red, Humanoids of the Deep and Battle Beyond the Stars for producer Roger Corman's New World organization. By 1982 Horner had moved on to major studio fare including 48 Hrs. and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and four years later he notched his first Academy Award nominations for his score to the science fiction classic Aliens as well as for the song "Somewhere Out There," from the animated picture An American Tail. In 1989, Horner earned a second Oscar nomination for his score to Field of Dreams, that same year winning a Grammy for his work on the Civil War drama Glory; in 1995 he was honored with two more Academy Award noms, for Braveheart and Apollo 13. Horner finally struck Oscar gold in 1997, taking home statuettes for his score to the blockbuster Titanic as well as the film's original song "My Heart Will Go On," a hit for Celine Dion.

- Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide