Born in Frankfurt in 1957, Hans first wanted to work in popular music: he is seen in the 1970 video "Video Killed the Radio Star" which was the first video shown on the MTV cable network. In fact, it was the very first thing ever shown on MTV: the network was launched in August 1981, at midnight, and this video by Hans Zimmer captured the spirit of the network.
Despite his early interest in popular music, it was in film scores that he would be most successful and famous: music for movies. His first breakthrough, after several less-well-known films, was The Last Emperor for which he won an Academy Award for 'best original score' (he also won an Oscar for his music in The Lion King).
Hans Zimmer has worked on many projects, in Hollywood and at home in Germany, on serious films like The Dark Knight Rises, and on fun movies like Kung Fu Panda 2 and Madagascar. In addition to music for movies, this German composer has written tunes for video games like the Crysis games, the Call of Duty games, and the Skylanders games, and for HBO's TV series The Pacific.
Like many modern Germans, Hans Zimmer prefers not to drive. He takes taxis, buses, subways, and streetcars; he occasionally rides a bicycle and often walks; he gets rides from other people in the film industry. Ironically, he wrote music for a Maybach commercial (Maybach is a German luxury car).
One of Germany's most active composers, he was written music for Thelma & Louise, Black Hawk Down, Hannibal, The Last Sammurai, The Simpsons Movie, Crimson Tide, Pearl Harbor, Angels and Demons, Johnny English, Iron Man, Over the Hedge, and Wallace & Gromit. He has written music for over one hundred movies. Although personally modest about his success, he has millions of dollars.
Hans Zimmer was nominated for Oscars regarding his work on Rain Man and Gladiator, among others. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his work on Spanglish. He was nominated for a Grammy Award because of his work on Driving Miss Daisy. So far, he has been nominated for ten Golden Globe awards, of which he has won two. He has been nominated for nine Grammies, of which he has won four. He has received ten Oscar nominations, of which he was won two.
