Michael Kamen Michael Kamen

Born:15 April 1948, Queens, New York.
Died: 18 November 2003.

Biography:
New York-born London-based composer Michael Kamen studied at the famous Julliard School of Music, where he was an accomplished composer, horn and oboe player. As a founder member of the New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, Kamen enjoyed a great deal of success during the 1970s as an arranger, producer and musician. Working with a wide array of artists including Queen and Kate Bush. He served as musical director for David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" tour, and was instrumental in the success of Pink Floyd's album "The Wall". Despite having dabbled in film music since 1976, Kamen's first true success in the industry came in 1983, when he wrote the score for the classic science fiction parable "Brazil". His extensive credits since then included movies such as the massively successful "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon" series of films, "Highlander" (1986), "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), "The Three Musketeers" (1993), "Don Juan De Marco" (1995), "Mr. Holland's Opus" (1995), "101 Dalmatians" (1996), "What Dreams May Come" (1998), "X-Men" (2000), the acclaimed TV series "Band of Brothers" (2001), and Kevin Costner's western "Open Range" (2003). As well as film scores, Kamen wrote a number of hit songs, notably "Everything I Do I Do For You", "All For One" and "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" for Bryan Adams. He also wrote several acclaimed classical works - a guitar concerto for Eric Clapton, a saxophone concert for David Sanborn, a symphony entitled "S&M" which combined the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and rock band Metallica, and a piece for the National Symphony in Washington entitled "The Old Moon in the New Moon's Arms", written to commemorate the turn of the millennium. His score for the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" led to the creation of the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit making organisation which seeks to revitalise under-funded school music programmes in the United States. He was also the music director for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and led the orchestra during Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace in 2002. In 2003, Kamen revealed that he was suffering from multiple sclerosis, and that he was planning to be involved in a new charity set up to combat the disease. However, this new venture was destined never to come to fruition. Shockingly, Kamen died of a heart attack at his home in London, on 18 November 2003, aged just 55, leaving his wife, Sandra Keenan-Kamen, and two daughters, Sasha and Zoe. The two scores he was working on at the time of his death were completed by his orchestrators: "First Daughter" by Blake Neely, and "Back to Gaya" by Ilan Eshkeri. Click Here to read Kamen's obituary

Reviews:
Back to Gaya, Don Juan De Marco, Frequency, Inventing the Abbotts, The Iron Giant, Jack, Lethal Weapon 4, Mr. Holland's Opus, Open Range, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Shining Through, What Dreams May Come, X-Men and Michael Kamen's Opus (compilation).

Filmography:
Against the Ropes (2004), Back to Gaya (2004), First Daughter (2004), Open Range (2003), Band of Brothers (2001), Frequency (2000), X-Men (2000), The Iron Giant (1999), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), From the Earth to the Moon (1998), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), What Dreams May Come (1998), Event Horizon (1997), The Heart Surgeon (1997), Inventing the Abbotts (1997), Remember Me? (1997), The Winter Guest (1997), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Jack (1996), Circle of Friends (1995), Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), Don Juan DeMarco (1995), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Stonewall (1995), Last Action Hero (1993), Splitting Heirs (1993), The Three Musketeers (1993), Wilder Napalm (1993), Blue Ice (1992), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), Shining Through (1992), Company Business (1991), Hudson Hawk (1991), The Last Boy Scout (1991), Let Him Have It (1991), Nothing But Trouble (1991), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Cold Dog Soup (1990), Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990), The Krays (1990), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989), Dead-Bang (1989), For Queen and Country (1989), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Licence to Kill (1989), Renegades (1989), Road House (1989), Rooftops (1989), Action Jackson (1988), Crusoe (1988), Die Hard (1988), Homeboy (1988), The Raggedy Rawney (1988), Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Lethal Weapon (1987), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Suspect (1987), Edge of Darkness (1986), Highlander (1986), Mona Lisa (1986), Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1986), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Shoot for the Sun (1986), Brazil (1985), Lifeforce (1985), Angelo My Love (1983), The Dead Zone (1983), Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Venom (1982), Polyester (1981), S*H*E (1980), Between the Lines (1977), Stunts (1977), Liza's Pioneer Diary (1976), The Next Man (1976).

Highest Grossing Films (adjusted for inflation):
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves ($278.3m), Lethal Weapon 2 ($262.3m), Lethal Weapon 3 ($246.9m), 101 Dalmatians ($218.1m), X-Men ($202.6m), Lethal Weapon 4 ($196.9m), Die Hard 2: Die Harder ($196.7m), Die Hard: With a Vengeance ($162.8m), Die Hard ($143.0m), Mr. Holland’s Opus ($134.4m)

Awards:
1995 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Song - "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" from Don Juan DeMarco
1991 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Song - "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1995 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Don Juan DeMarco
1991 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1991 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Song - "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1985 BAFTA Awards – Winner, Best Original TV Music – Edge of Darkness
1991 Grammy Awards – Winner, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television – “Everything I Do I Do For You” from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1995 Grammy Awards – Nominee, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television – “Have You Really Ever Loved A Woman?” from Don Juan DeMarco
1992 Grammy Awards – Nominee, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television – “It’s Probably Me” from Lethal Weapon 3
1991 Grammy Awards – Nominee, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or Television – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
1998 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – From the Earth to the Moon

Links:
Official Site

101 Dalmatians The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Band of Brothers Brazil Circle of Friends Company Business The Dead Zone Die Hard Die Hard 2: Die Harder Die Hard: With a Vengeance Don Juan DeMarco Event Horizon Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas From the Earth to the Moon Highlander Homeboy Hudson Hawk Inventing the Abbotts The Iron Giant Jack Last Action Hero The Last Boy Scout Let Him Have It Lethal Weapon Lethal Weapon 2 Lethal Weapon 3 Licence to Kill Mr. Holland's Opus Open Range Pink Floyd: The Wall The Raggedy Rawney Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Shining Through Suspect The Three Musketeers What Dreams May Come The Winter Guest X-Men Guitar Concerto (Classical) The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms/The American Symphony Saxophone Concerto (Classical)


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