Lin-Manuel Miranda Wiki: Everything To Know About The 'Moana' Music Composer

Most movies wouldn’t be so great if it weren’t for the music in them. A good example is the “The Greatest Showman.” Some of the professionals who work on those songs are composers. One of the greatest composers in the industry at the moment is Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is not just a composer but also an actor, lyricist and playwright. He has starred in movies that he composed for himself and Miranda has a lot of experience up his sleeve. The actor has worked on several movies and won so many awards, including three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, three Tony Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. But what about Miranda before he rose to fame? 39-year-old Lin-Manuel Miranda was born in New York City and grew up in Inwood. He is the son of Luz Towns, a clinical psychologist and his father is Luis A. Miranda Jr. is a Democratic party consultant and former adviser to New York City mayor, Ed Koch. The composer has one sister, older than him and she is the Chief Financial Officer of the MirRam Group. In his childhood and teen days, he would stay with his grandparents at least a month in every year back in Vega Alta and Miranda is of Puerto Rican descent. Miranda’s first name, “Lin-Manuel” was inspired by a poem about the famous Vietnam War, “Nana Roja Para Mi Hijo Lin Manuel” by a Puerto Rican writer. Miranda started writing jingles when he was still a child, and one of them was used by Eliot Spitzer in his 2006 gubernatorial campaign. The composer attended Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School. He was a student at Wesleyan University and while there, Miranda co-founded a hip-hop comedy troupe known as Freestyle Love Supreme. The composer made his first draft in 1999 for “Heights.” He acted in many productions while in college and also wrote and directed several musicals. He has worked on projects like “Moana”, Hamilton”, “Mary Poppins Returns”, “In the Heights”, “Bring it On: The Musical”, and “21 Chump Street” and made a decent net worth from his talent.

Miranda is trending at the moment. The reason is, the actor and composer has shingles. The “Hamilton” took to Twitter last Thursday to confess to his fans that what he thought was a migraine was actually shingles. He also mentioned in the post that he had been quarantined from his baby until further notice. Miranda and his wife Vanessa Nadal welcomed their second child, a baby boy in February this year, and their first child is only three. In the post, he had joked that he was wearing a mask, and he came out later to apologize later stating that he was actually living with his parents. For those who don’t know what shingles is, it’s a viral disease that results to a painful and blistering rush, usually one side of the body., according to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The rash sometimes occurs with fever, chills, and headache. The virus is usually caused by zoster virus, the same one that causes chickenpox and according to CDC, the virus lies dormant in the body and reactivate years later resulting in shingles. Miranda’s newborn is around eight weeks old, and therefore, he is young to receive the chickenpox vaccine which is given between 12 to 15 months.

Nine months after he read Chernow’s book, Miranda was invited to the first house, the White House to perform one of the songs from “In the Heights.” Instead, the composer chose to perform a work in progress that later became “Hamilton” the musical. That earned Miranda a standing ovation from former President Obama, Michelle, Joe Biden, and his wife. The next year in March, Miranda went back to the White House with the cast of “Hamilton.” He did a freestyle rapping with Obama in the Rose Garden and the video went viral.

Miranda loved the theatre. He participated in every school play and his love for music was very evident. His family also used to collect cast albums and Miranda would master every line and lyric. Miranda’s mother, Luz Towns-Miranda told 60 Minutes that the composer loved to sing and at times he would create songs with words that he loved.

Miranda has ever won a Tony Award for his first Broadway musical, “In the Heights,’ and he was awarded the MacArthur ‘genius grant” in 2015. But even before all that recognition, Miranda was already something of prodigy while growing up in Inwood. He was even admitted in a school meant for gifted kids. In an interview, Miranda said that he went to a school where everyone was smarter than him. He was surrounded by genius kids, and he had to figure things out.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a net worth of $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He Has made his net worth by working on “Moana”, Hamilton”, “Mary Poppins Returns”, “In the Heights”, “Bring it On: The Musical”, and “21 Chump Street.”

We can all pray that Miranda will feel better soon. We all hope to see him soon.