Hans Zimmer Wiki: Score Composer, Net Worth, 'Inception', 'Gladiator' & Facts To Know

Hans Zimmer is a self-taught score composer and musician. He first began playing music as a child. He took piano lessons for a short time before resorting to teaching himself instead, as he did not like formal music instruction. As a young adult, Zimmer went on to play the piano and keyboard in bands around England. One of the first bands he played with were The Buggles. He even appeared in one of the band's music video, for the song "Video Killed the Radio Star." He also played with Krakatoa and Krisma. His musical work mostly appears in these bands albums from the 1970's. Zimmer continued to play with bands into the mid-1980's. Around this time, he not only did studio work but also went on tour with the band Mecano, in 1984. When Zimmer wasn't working with bands, he wrote jingles for commercials and other advertisements.

Hans Zimmer began composing film scores in 1984 when he composed for the movie "Success is the Best Revenge." From there, on, his score composing career kicked off. Throughout the 1980's, Zimmer composed of more than a dozen films. One of his best-known film compositions from the 1980's the Dustin Hoffman film "Rain Man." He also composed for the films "A World Apart," "Terminal Exposure," and "Black Rain."

By the 1990's, Zimmer's reputation had grown significantly from when he first began his score composing career. He began working on films with larger budgets. Taking on these bigger jobs helped to raise both his popularity and his net worth. Some of his most famous works from the early 1990's include "Thelma & Louise," "A League of Their Own," and "Calendar Girl." However, it was the animated film, "The Lion King," which earned Zimmer his first composing awards.

Zimmer worked on "The Lion King" with famous Disney Lyricist, Tim Rice (who had worked on other Disney movies, like "Aladdin") and Elton John. This star-powered combination of musicians helped the film's music, and Zimmer, to become a success. For "The Lion King" Zimmer won an Oscar for Best Original Score and two Grammy awards (for Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompany Vocals and for Best Musical Album for Children). Some of the other famous films that he worked on during the 1990's included "Drop Zone," "Crimson Tide," "Muppet Treasure Island," "The Prince of Egypt," and "As Good as It Gets." His awards didn't end with "The Lion King," either. He also won a Grammy Award for his work on the film "Crimson Tide."

As Zimmer entered the new millennium, he continued to work with big-name film production companies, including Dreamworks and Disney. In 2000, he worked on the Dreamworks movie "The Road to El Dorado." Zimmer was not restricted to working on children's movies. He also wrote the music for "Gladiator," "Mission Impossible II," and "Hannibal." In 2001, he was awarded with a Golden Globe for his work on "Gladiator."

By this time, Zimmer was known to be a great film score composer. He took on various movies to compose for, including children's animated films, comedies, horror movies, thrillers, action films, and romance movies. Zimmer's next great award was a Satellite Award, which he earned in 2003 for his work on "The Last Samurai." Some of the other famous movies he worked on during this time included "Black Hawk Down," "The Ring," "King Arthur," Spanglish," "The DaVinci Code," and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." After his 2003 win, it wasn't until 2008 that he won another award. This time, it was for the action movie, "Batman: The Dark Knight." He worked on "The Dark Knight" with another film composer, James Newton Howard. This great combination won the composers won a Grammy, Classical BRIT Award, and a Saturn Award.

As of the 2010's, Zimmer's fame seems to be at its peak. He won the bulk of his awards in this decade as well. Zimmer's first major film of the 2010's was "Inception," which was released in 2010. He won several awards for his work on "Inception," including a Satellite Award, a WAFCA Award, a World Soundtrack Award, and a Saturn Award. One of his other most famous films from this decade was "Interstellar," which came out in 2014. Some of the awards he won for his work in "Interstellar include a Saturn Award and the Stephen Hawking Medal. Throughout this decade, he also worked on several other famous films, including "The Dark Knight Rises," "Man of Steel," "Hidden Figures," "Dunkirk," and "Boss Baby." He has also won awards for his work on the films "The Dark Knight" (Classical BRIT Award) and "12 Years a Slave (WAFCA Award). He also won the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award in 2013.

Zimmer may be up for another award soon. The nominations are in for the 2018 Oscars. Zimmer has been nominated for an Oscar in the Music (Original Score) category for his work on "Dunkirk." Zimmer faces tough competition in the 2018 Oscars, as John Williams ("Star Wars: The Last Jedi") and Alexandre Desplat ("The Shape of Water") are also nominees.

Han Zimmer's estimated net worth is $90 million. He earns much of his money from his movie score composing career. He is also the co-founder of his own music studio called Media Ventures. There, he adds to his net worth by working with many other accomplished score composers like John Powell and Mark Mancina.