James Horner 1953-2015

Posted by on June 23rd, 2015   Filed under: Industry News
Source: THR

riphorner

We had just finished recording another episode of the Film Junk Podcast last night where composer James Horner came up in conversation at least once (as he usually does), when the devastating news started to trickle in. The man who has given us so many memorable scores over the years including Avatar, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Field of Dreams, Titanic, Willow and Braveheart died in a plane crash yesterday. Horner was flying the small plane himself when it went down 60 miles north of Santa Barbara. The cause of the crash is still being investigated but Horner’s assistant has confirmed his death. He was 61 years old.


Horner got his start composing for movies with the 1979 film The Lady in Red and a handful of Roger Corman productions including Battle Beyond the Stars, but it was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that catapulted him to fame. He soon started collaborating with James Cameron, first on Aliens and then eventually Titanic and Avatar, the former of which earned him a couple of Oscars. It goes without saying that the upcoming Avatar sequels will not be the same without him.

Although he has sometimes taken flack for borrowing parts of his themes from other sources (including himself), I think we can all agree that he has done some pretty iconic work over the years. Krull, Cocoon, Commando, The Rocketeer, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Troy… the list goes on and on. He had over 100 scores under his belt when he died and a total of 10 Oscar nominations. He will certainly be missed. What are your favourite James Horner scores?



  • Lori Cerny

    Very disquieting after the recent outpouring of affection from you guys for his work.

  • ProjectGenesis

    Perfect time to pop in the Aliens making-of documentary. He
    tells the story of how he had about 2 weeks to score the whole movie due to a rushed production schedule. Very interesting stuff. RIP.

  • ECONOMYpolitica

    Brave heart is probably my favorite score ever.

  • 1138sw

    I can’t believe it a plane accident! One of my favorite composers next to John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, and Danny Elfman.

    Loosing Jerry Goldsmith was tough, now ten years later James Horner! R.I.P Mr Horner your music will be remembered and never forgotten! Thanks for the music!

  • HeroSupreme

    Who will score the James Horner biopic?

  • Stinker

    And who will compose the score to the biopic, “I heard that before: the james Horner Story”?

  • Jonathan Livingston

    braveheart!! second best score of all time.

  • Lisa Naarseth Myklebust
  • Kurt

    I love that ‘na-na-na-naaaaah!’ cue. Always reminds me of WILLOW.

  • devolutionary

    One of the most iconic film composers in the last 30 plus years will truly be missed. What a loss.????

  • LordAwesome

    He’s recycling themes in heaven now.

  • Stinker

    Battle beyond the stars, Gorky Park and Commando. that great filmmusic. And Star Trek II and III, for sentimental reason.
    The Rest…….

  • pcch7

    No more flourishes, sad news indeed.

  • Thurston

    My thoughts exactly. I’m going to kick back and give this classic a re-listen. Sad loss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfi5nCTpEv4

  • Son Of Quigley

    Fuck, I am sad. Top 3 for me. RIP in peace peacefully…

  • Thurston

    I hoping next Film Junk podcast Sean, Jay and Frank play stretches of his scores and just vibe on them and talk about the man’s genius musical talent.

  • Matt the Kiwi

    My faves: Cocoon, Apollo 13 and Glory (and the 1st track of Courage under Fire never fails to get the adrenaline pumping). Listening to his scores is like mainlining 80’s and 90’s nostalgia. Raising a glass to the man who made the ‘hitting an iron bar with a crescent wrench’ sound epic.

  • Loren

    I’ll pay $5 for a James Horner Honorarium Podcast

  • I love me some na na na naaah.

  • jurassicalien

    Man this is a rough one. Of course Star Trek II and Aliens are high water marks. But I started listening to his Land Before Time score and the scores he did for animated films are also pretty amazing. Even the score to “We’re Back: A Dinosaur story” not a great film, but what an awesome score.

    And it won’t get mentioned often but the track Kaleidoscope of Mathematics from Beautiful Mind is pretty amazing.

    I think it says something that when Super 8 was coming out, it being a massive Spielberg love letter, it was Horner music that was used in all the trailers and marketing.