James Newton Howard began his professional career as a session musician and keyboardist, eventually transitioning into an extensive tenure composing for Hollywood feature films. With a background in classical piano and rock performance, he has accumulated a significant body of work spanning over one hundred motion pictures, earning multiple industry accolades, including Grammy and Emmy awards for his contributions to visual media.
Early Musical Foundations
Born in Los Angeles in 1951, Howard received formal training at the Thacher School, the Music Academy of the West, and the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. He initially pursued piano performance but left university after six weeks. His early professional engagements included playing in the bands Mama Lion and Heavy Cruiser, followed by session work for artists such as Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, and Harry Nilsson. By 1975, he secured a position in Elton John's touring band, where he contributed to keyboard arrangements and string orchestrations for numerous tracks and albums.
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Howard shifted his focus toward film scoring during the 1980s. His early film industry contributions included collaborations on various projects and arrangements. By 1990, he established himself as a prominent composer with his work on the romantic comedy Pretty Woman. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he displayed versatility across genres, scoring major studio productions and suspense dramas. His professional portfolio includes high-profile collaborations with directors such as M. Night Shyamalan and Francis Lawrence.
Notable Film and Television Credits
His extensive filmography includes diverse titles such as The Fugitive, Space Jam, The Sixth Sense, King Kong, and the Batman films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the latter two co-composed with Hans Zimmer. He has worked on Disney animated features including Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and Raya and the Last Dragon. In television, he composed the theme for the series ER and won an Emmy Award for his theme for Gideon's Crossing.
Fast facts
- Born: 1951, Los Angeles
- Primary Field: Film score
- Citizenship: United States
- Education: USC Thornton School of Music
- Grammy Award: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (2008)
- Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music (2001)
Questions readers ask
Which directors has James Newton Howard collaborated with extensively?
He has worked extensively with M. Night Shyamalan and Francis Lawrence, scoring eight films for each of them.
What early musical experience did Howard gain before composing for films?
He worked as a keyboardist for Elton John's band, served as a session musician for various artists, and performed in the bands Mama Lion and Heavy Cruiser.
Achievements
- Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media — 2008
- Grammy Awards
- Classic Brit Awards
- Instruments: piano, flute and guitar
- Genres: free jazz and film score
