Los Angeles, 1953 · California, 2015
James Horner
Titanic won him two Oscars. Before that he had scored Aliens, Willow and Braveheart.
He studied in London and California and started out at Roger Corman's studio. Star Trek II established him in Hollywood in 1982. He worked with James Cameron three times: Aliens, Titanic and Avatar. He died in 2015, aged 61, when the small plane he was flying crashed.
- Style
- Uilleann pipes and Celtic whistles, wordless choirs and four-note motifs that keep coming back.
- Awards
- 2 Oscars for Titanic (score and the song My Heart Will Go On) and 10 nominations in all.
Essential films
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Aliens (1986)
- Willow (1988)
- Braveheart (1995)
- Apollo 13 (1995)
- Titanic (1997)
- A Beautiful Mind (2001)
- Avatar (2009)
Listen
- Hymn to the Sea · TitanicSpotifyYouTube
- For the Love of a Princess · BraveheartSpotifyYouTube
- A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics · A Beautiful MindSpotifyYouTube
Everything on Spotify Everything on YouTube Full biography on Wikipedia
Awards counted up to the 2026 Academy Awards. Facts reviewed in October 2026.