In the 1970s, while playing keyboards and synths and briefly appearing in the Buggles’ 1979 music video for the song “Video Killed the Radio Star,” Hans Zimmer had the idea for his profession. Then he began working for the Italian band Krisma, appearing on their third album, “Cathode Mamma,” as a featured synthesist. Also co-produced the Shriekback single “History of the World, Part 1,” which was also featured on their 1980 LP release “The Black Album,” and he contributed to the Shriekback album “Oil & Gold” in 1985. Together with Stanley Myers, Zimmer produced several films in the 1980s, including “Moonlighting” (1982), “Success Is the Best Revenge” (1984), “Insignificance” (1985), and “My Beautiful Laundrette” (1985).
The 1987 film “Terminal Exposure” included Zimmer’s debut solo score for director Nico Mastorakis, and the song “Going for Gold” during his time in the UK has endured the longest.
He served as the score producer for the 1987 movie “The Last Emperor,” but the 1988 movie “Rain Man” was a turning point in Zimmer’s career. In addition to composing the score for the 1994 movie “The Lion King,” he wrote the theme song for Tony Scott’s 1993 movie “True Romance.” One of his most significant compositions is considered to be the score for the 1998 movie “The Thin Red Line.”
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The Last Samurai (2003), Madagascar (2005), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Simpsons Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda (2008), Angels & Demons (2009), and Sherlock Holmes were among the Hollywood blockbusters for which he composed scores in the 2000s. He also composed scores for three Ridley Scott films, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and Hannibal (2009). The three following movies in the series, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006), “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (2007), and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2008), also had him on board as the composer (2011).
Hans is thereafter renowned for his work on the music for Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and “Batman Begins” (2008). Hans Zimmer and director Guy Ritchie used real Romani music in the 2011 follow-up “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” whereas for the 2010 picture “Inception,” Zimmer electronically altered the tune “Non, moi ne regrette rien.” He recorded the song “Aurora,” a choral arrangement of a theme from the “Dark Knight Rises” soundtrack, as well as a new rendition of the “ABC World News” theme music.
He co-wrote the music for the 2013 television program “The Bible,” which debuted, and he also wrote the score for the 2014 movie “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.”
