John Powell is an English film music composer and music conductor. He has been based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

since 1997 and has composed the music to over 70 feature films. He is best known for composing the music for films such as ''

Face/Off ''Face/Off'' is a 1997 American science fiction action film directed by John Woo, from a screenplay by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary. It stars John Travolta as an FBI agent and Nicolas Cage as a terrorist, who undergo an experimental surg ...

'', the '' Bourne'' films, the ''

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

Feet The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of ...

'' films, '' United 93'', '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', '' Wicked'' and its upcoming sequel '' For Good'', ''Evolution'', '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'', ''

Migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

'', '' Drumline'', ''Hancock'', '' The Call of the Wild'', ''Bolt'', '' That Christmas'', '' Thelma the Unicorn'', '' Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie'', eight

Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation animation studio, studio, which was active from 1987 to 2021. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael F ...

films and ten

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

films. His work on ''Happy Feet'', ''

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

'' and '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'' has earned him three Grammy nominations. He was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for ''

How to Train Your Dragon ''How to Train Your Dragon'' is a media franchise from DreamWorks Animation and loosely based on the book series How to Train Your Dragon (novel series), of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It consists of three feature films: '' ...

'' and '' Wicked''. Powell was a member of

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

's music studio, Remote Control Productions, and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', '' Phone Booth' ...

on ''

Antz ''Antz'' is a 1998 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson from a screenplay written by Todd Alcott and the writing team of Chris and Paul Weitz. It was produced by DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks An ...

'', ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

'' and ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

'' and Zimmer himself on '' Chill Factor'', ''

The Road to El Dorado ''The Road to El Dorado'' is a 2000 American animated musical adventure comedy film directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, as well as additional sequences directed by Will Finn and ...

'', and the first two ''

Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American martial arts comedy media franchise that started in 2008 with the release of the animated film '' Kung Fu Panda'' produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily v ...

'' films. He has also collaborated with film directors such as

Carlos Saldanha Carlos Saldanha (; born 24 January 1965) is a Brazilian animator, director, producer, and voice actor of animated films who worked with Blue Sky Studios until its closure in 2021. He was the director of ''Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006), ''Ice Ag ...

Dean DeBlois Dean Allan DeBlois ( ; born June 7, 1970) is a Canadian filmmaker and writer. He is best known for co-writing and directing the Oscar-nominated animated feature films '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2002) for Walt Disney Animation Studios (with Chris Sande ...

Chris Sanders Christopher Michael Sanders (born March 12, 1962) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. His credits include '' Lilo & Stitch'' (2002) and its live-action adaptation and ''How to Train Your Dragon'' (2010), both of which he co-wro ...

, Jon M. Chu, George Miller,

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

Ron Underwood Ronald Brian Underwood (born November 6, 1953) is an American film and television director, known for directing such films as '' Tremors'' (1990), '' City Slickers'' (1991), '' Heart and Souls'' (1993),'' and Mighty Joe Young'' (1998). Early ...

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), '' Jumper'' (2008), '' E ...

Charles Stone III Charles Stone III (born 1966) is an American film director. He is best known for ''Drumline (film), Drumline'' starring Nick Cannon, ''Mr. 3000'' starring Bernie Mac, and ''Paid in Full (2002 film), Paid in Full''. Stone directed the video to " ...

and Paul Greengrass.

Early life and education

As a child, he played the violin and viola. He studied the violin at the Trinity College of Music, central London (now the

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music, dance, and musical theatre conservatoire based in South East London. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. Trini ...

in Greenwich, London). There, he met John Ashton Thomas, who orchestrated many of Powell's scores. Powell played for "Faboulistics", an amateur rock and roll band. After finishing college, he composed music for commercials, which led to a job as an assistant to the composer

Patrick Doyle Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953) is a Scottish composer and occasional actor best known for his film scores. During his 50-year career in film, television and theatre, he has composed the scores for over 60 feature films. A longtime collaborato ...

on several film productions, including ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

''. In 1995, Powell co-founded the London-based commercial music house Independently Thinking Music with Gavin Greenaway, which produced scores for more than 100 British and French commercials and independent films.

Career

Powell's first score was for the Season 4 of the TV series ''Stay Lucky''. He moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and scored his first major film, ''

''. It was followed by ''

'' in 1998, the first film produced by

, which he co-scored with fellow British composer

, which also marked the duo's first score for an animated film. Two years later, Powell collaborated with composer

on the score for ''

''. Later that same year, he also teamed up with Harry Gregson-Williams again to compose the score to ''

'' and then again the following year on ''

''. Gregson-Williams composed all the subsequent ''Shrek''

films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

and the

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''Chicken Run'' himself. In 2001 he also scored ''

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

'', '' I Am Sam'', '' Just Visiting'' and ''

Rat Race A rat race is a metaphor used to describe an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase is sometimes used to relate the human life to that of rats attempting to earn an ultimately pointless reward when Mortality salience, death ...

''. In 2002 Powell was hired to score '' The Bourne Identity'' for director

after

Carter Burwell Carter Benedict Burwell (born November 18, 1954) is an American film composer. He has frequently collaborated with the Coen brothers, having scored most of their films. He has also scored films by other directors such as Bill Condon, Todd Haynes ...

left the project. He also returned to score the series' other two films, '' The Bourne Supremacy'' and '' The Bourne Ultimatum'', under British director Paul Greengrass. Powell collaborated with Liman again to score '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005). That year he also scored ''

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'' for

, and went on to score many of the studio's subsequent films until 2017's ''

''. In 2006, he scored Greengrass' '' United 93''. He also composed music for his second Blue Sky film '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'', following David Newman, who scored the first ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

'' film; as well as '' X-Men: The Last Stand'' and ''

Happy Feet ''Happy Feet'' is a 2006 animated jukebox musical comedy film directed and produced by George Miller and written by Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. It stars the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hug ...

'', for which he won a Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for an Animated Feature Film. The next year he scored ''The Bourne Ultimatum''. In 2008 he reunited with Hans Zimmer and returned to DreamWorks Animation to score ''

'', and also wrote music for '' Jumper'', '' Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!'', '' Hancock'', and '' Bolt''. In 2009 he scored the third film of ''Ice Age'' series; '' Dawn of the Dinosaurs''. In 2010, Powell composed the score to ''

,'' which earned him a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by ...

. It was his sixth DreamWorks Animation film, although the first where he composed the whole score himself. That year he also scored Greengrass's ''

Green Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...

'' and ''

Knight and Day ''Knight and Day'' is a 2010 American satirical action comedy film directed by James Mangold and starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. The film was the second on-screen collaboration of Cruise and Diaz after '' Vanilla Sky'' (2001). The film fo ...

''. In 2013, Powell took a sabbatical year from film scoring. In April 2014, after completing his scores to sequels '' Rio 2'' and ''

How to Train Your Dragon 2 ''How to Train Your Dragon 2'' is a 2014 American animated fantasy film loosely based on the How to Train Your Dragon (novel series), book series by Cressida Cowell. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and written and directed by Dean DeBlois, it i ...

'', he announced he would take another break to compose concert music, including a 45-minute oratorio to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of World War I. The piece, "A Prussian Requiem", with a libretto by Michael Petry, premiered on 6 March 2016 at The

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

, London with José Serebrier conducting the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

. Powell composed the score for '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'' (2018), collaborating with

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

, who wrote Han Solo's theme. In 2019, Powell scored '' How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'', the final film in the ''How to Train Your Dragon'' series. In November 2023, it was announced that Powell would compose the musical score for the 2024

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and Locksmith Animation film '' That Christmas''. In January 2024, it was announced that Powell will return to compose the score for the live-action remake of ''

''. In August 2024, it was confirmed that Powell will compose and conduct the incidental score for the two-part film adaptation of '' Wicked'', in collaboration with the musical's composer

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...

Filmography

Feature films

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Television

Albums

Studio albums

Archival soundtrack albums

References

External links

* – official site * *
John Powell
biography at SoundtrackNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, John 20th-century English composers 20th-century English male musicians 21st-century English composers 21st-century English male musicians Animated film score composers Annie Award winners Blue Sky Studios people Composers from London DreamWorks Animation people English expatriate musicians in the United States English film score composers English male film score composers Film people from London Hollywood Records artists Illumination (company) people Ivor Novello Award winners Living people People from East Sussex Primetime Emmy Award winners Varèse Sarabande Records artists Walt Disney Animation Studios people Year of birth missing (living people)