These modern music stars are obsessed with Hans Zimmer


In partnership with Warner Bros. UK

Legendary German composer Hans Zimmer won his second Oscar in 2022 for his majestic score to Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. So, it’s no great surprise that he’s returned to score the eagerly anticipated sequel, Dune: Part Two, which opens in cinemas on March 1. This time, fans will get even more of his signature bombastic soundscapes filled with memorable, cinema-shaking motifs.

Zimmer is known for inventively and effortlessly blending contemporary electronic sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements. He’s a proper crossover star with a massive TikTok following whose concerts fill arenas from Manchester to Melbourne. In 2017, he even smashed a set at Coachella music festival.

Ahead of Dune: Part Two’s release, here’s a guide to the modern music stars that Zimmer has influenced and collaborated with. Seriously, his WhatsApp contacts folder is absolutely jam-packed with talent.

Pharrell Williams

Era-defining artist and producer Pharrell is a frequent Zimmer collaborator. They worked together on the scores to 2010’s Despicable Me, 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 2017’s Hidden Figures. Williams has called Zimmer “one of the most gracious spirits that I’ve ever come into contact with”, while Zimmer credited Williams with curing his stage fright.

The turning point came when Pharrell invited Zimmer to perform with him at the Grammys in 2015. “He was just turning around the whole time, keeping eye contact with me, making sure I was all right,” Zimmer recalled. “And you know, it was the best night, one of the highlights of my life.” Pharrell returned the favour two years later when he joined Zimmer onstage at Coachella.

Billie Eilish

Gen Z icon Billie Eilish’s 2021 Bond theme, ‘No Time To Die’, features stunning orchestration by Zimmer that was recorded with a 70-person orchestra at London’s AIR Studios. “We went through a lot of different versions,” Eilish said at the time. “We all worked really hard, Hans was incredibly easy to work with and he’s so funny. It was a really good collaborative experience.”

There’s no doubt their hard work paid off: ‘No Time To Die’ reached Number One in the UK and won Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Best Original Song. Fingers crossed they get to work together again.

Dave

In 2018, zeitgeist-grabbing British rapper Dave hailed Zimmer as a major musical influence. “My chord progressions mirror his a lot of the time,” he said appreciatively. Just two years later, Dave got to collaborate with his hero when he played grand piano on Zimmer’s soaring score to the BBC nature doc Planet Earth: A Celebration.

Then in 2021, Dave revealed that Zimmer supplied the title for his chart-topping second album – albeit quite by accident. “The album title is ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’. Hans Zimmer said it to me on FaceTime,” Dave explained. Can we expect to see more collaborations between Dave and Zimmer? Let’s hope so.

Bastille

Last year, British band Bastille recruited Zimmer for a special 10th anniversary version of their breakthrough hit ‘Pompeii’. Titled ‘Pompeii MMXXIII’, the Zimmer version is a gorgeous orchestral reimagining of the original power pop song. “Having the opportunity to work with the living legend that is Hans Zimmer, and his brilliant team, has been an absolute dream,” Bastille’s Dan Smith said at the time. He also hailed the creative process as a “wonderfully surreal experience”.

Zimmer clearly relished the project too, particularly because he really rates Bastille as composers. “It’s been proven time and time again that a beautiful, crafted song by a great band can have many lives and ‘Pompeii’ is a shining example of this,” he said.

Lady Gaga

Zimmer and Lady Gaga joined forces for the suitably stirring score to 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. Their other main collaborators on the project were British composer Lorne Balfe, a longtime Zimmer associate, and original Top Gun composer Harold Faltermeyer. “Hans and Gaga worked very closely,” Balfe said at the time. “There were quite a few writing sessions. They were working on it for a long time.”

You can hear the results of their collaboration on rousing soundtrack cuts including ‘You’re Where You Belong / Give ‘Em Hell’ and ‘The Man, The Legend / Touchdown’. There’s no doubt they capture the daredevil flair of Tom Cruise’s iconic Top Gun character Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds

In 2018, Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds made an acclaimed documentary, Believer, about the fraught relationship between the Mormon church and the LGBTQ+ community. Zimmer said that when he heard about the film “and the incredible work Dan is doing to help promote change, love and acceptance within his church”, he knew he “wanted to be part” of the project. Zimmer duly composed the doc’s mood-setting score, which includes ‘Skipping Stones’, a stark and affecting collaboration with Reynolds.

Camila Cabello

Zimmer teamed up with another pop superstar in 2022: ‘Havana’ singer Camila Cabello. Their assignment was to write a song for the BBC nature doc Frozen Planet – and they absolutely smashed it with the evocative ballad ‘Take Me Back Home’. “To be able to combine my passion for the planet we live on and my music is a dream come true – never mind also getting to work with the legend that is Hans Zimmer,” Cabello said when it was released.

You can hear the latest stunning original score from Hans Zimmer when Dune: Part Two hits cinemas on March 1. Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux and Rebecca Ferguson, it’s the continuation of visionary director Denis Villeneuve’s epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic 1965 sci-fi novel.

‘Dune: Part Two’ is in UK cinemas from March 1

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