Famed Movie Composer Got His Start In One Of The Most Iconic Bands
Hans Zimmer was in the music video for "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
When you think about Hans Zimmer, you most certainly think about cool movie scores. But in a recent interview for 60 Minutes on CBS, fans just learned something mind-boggling: Hans Zimmer was a rock star, too. Before he was a composer for smash hit films like The Lion King, Dune, Dunkirk, and Gladiator, he played synthesizers in multiple bands in Europe, including The Buggles.
If that wasn’t already enough to blow your mind, you will also be shocked to learn that you may have even seen him play without knowing it. Hans Zimmer appeared in one of the most famous music videos of all time, for the song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” It was the first music video ever played on MTV back in 1981 and featured Zimmer wearing a black jacket and playing the synths as The Buggles sang their hit song.
In 1977, Hans Zimmer first began working with one of the founders of The Buggles, Trevor Horn, and the two maintained a connection even after Zimmer left the band. Horn later helped with the score on Toys, the 1992 film starring Robin Williams.
Aside from this friendship, though, Hans Zimmer largely left the so-called “music business” behind when he started composing scores for films. He found being in a band to be “tedious,” but it did show him how much he liked the idea of putting music and visuals together.
In another interview with The Guardian from 2014, he said that “When I started in film music, I very consciously left rock’n’roll, and the music business, behind. I realized I was more interested in film music, and at that time, people weren’t really that interested in it.”
That being said, Hans Zimmer still had the spirit of a rocker, as one can clearly tell from some of his film compositions. His background in rock music gives him a different, edgier sound than a lot of other composers, which is perhaps why he is one of the only movie composers most casual film watchers can name.
The German composer has won two Oscars and four Grammys since the 1980s and is known for marrying electronic music sounds with more traditional orchestra-style arrangements. He has composed the music for more than 150 films, including The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight trilogy.
What makes his success and talent even more amazing is that Hans Zimmer is almost completely self-taught. When he was a child, he began taking piano lessons but didn’t like the confining aspects of having to sit down and be told what to do. So instead, he taught himself and joined several bands to improve his skills.
Hans Zimmer was also influenced by some of the great film composers who came before him. Ennio Morricone, for one, was a particular inspiration for him. In several interviews, Zimmer cites the score from Once Upon a Time in the West as being the music that made him want to become a film composer himself.
But, everyone has to start somewhere, and, believe it or not, Hans Zimmer really did get his start playing synthesizers and keyboards in European rock bands. Who knew?
