James Newton Howard

About James Newton Howard

Who is it?: Music Department, Composer, Soundtrack
Birth Day: June 09, 1951
Birth Place:  Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres: Film scores
Occupation(s): Composer, musician, songwriter
Instruments: Keyboards
Years active: 1975–present
Associated acts: Hans Zimmer, Elton John, Toto, Remote Control Productions

James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard was born on June 09, 1951 in  Los Angeles, California, United States, is Music Department, Composer, Soundtrack. James Newton Howard attended the University of Southern California's music school, but dropped out to tour with Elton John, and eventually compose music for film and television. He started with Head Office (1985) in 1985. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. He currently is a songwriter, record producer, conductor, keyboardist, and film composer.
James Newton Howard is a member of Music Department

Does James Newton Howard Dead or Alive?

As per our current Database, James Newton Howard is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).

🎂 James Newton Howard - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday

Currently, James Newton Howard is 72 years, 9 months and 20 days old. James Newton Howard will celebrate 73rd birthday on a Sunday 9th of June 2024. Below we countdown to James Newton Howard upcoming birthday.

Days
Hours
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Popular As James Newton Howard
Occupation Music Department
Age 71 years old
Zodiac Sign Cancer
Born June 09, 1951 ( Los Angeles, California, United States)
Birthday June 09
Town/City  Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality United States

🌙 Zodiac

James Newton Howard’s zodiac sign is Cancer. According to astrologers, the sign of Cancer belongs to the element of Water, just like Scorpio and Pisces. Guided by emotion and their heart, they could have a hard time blending into the world around them. Being ruled by the Moon, phases of the lunar cycle deepen their internal mysteries and create fleeting emotional patterns that are beyond their control. As children, they don't have enough coping and defensive mechanisms for the outer world, and have to be approached with care and understanding, for that is what they give in return.

🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs

James Newton Howard was born in the Year of the Rabbit. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rabbit enjoy being surrounded by family and friends. They’re popular, compassionate, sincere, and they like to avoid conflict and are sometimes seen as pushovers. Rabbits enjoy home and entertaining at home. Compatible with Goat or Pig.

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Awards and nominations:

In May 2008, he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.

In October 2015, he was honored with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award during the annual Hollywood in Vienna concert.

Biography/Timeline

1930

Howard was born in Los Angeles. He is from a musical family; his grandmother was the Pittsburgh Symphony's concertmaster and Violinist during the 1930s and '40s.

1980

After Howard left college, he joined a short-lived rock band called Mama Lion. The band was led by Neil Merryweather and featured vocalist Lynn Carey, Coffi Hall on bass, and Rick Gaxiola on guitar. Mama Lion recorded two full-length albums. Members of Mama Lion also formed the band Heavy Cruiser with Merryweather singing lead, recording two albums in the Heavy Prog Psyche genre. He then worked for a couple of years as a session musician with artists including Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, and Harry Nilsson. In the early 70s, he described himself as being "dirt poor", until his big break in 1975 when his manager got him an audition with Elton John. He joined John's band and toured with them as keyboardist during the late 70s and early 80s. He was part of the band that played Central Park, New York, on September 13, 1980. Howard also arranged strings for several of John's songs during this period including the hits "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", and played additional keyboards and synthesizers on studio albums including Rock of the Westies (1975), Blue Moves (1976), 21 at 33 (1980), and The Fox (1981).

1982

In 1982, Howard was featured on Toto IV as the strings Conductor and orchestrator for "I Won't Hold You Back", "Afraid of Love", and "Lovers in the Night". A year later, he released the live album James Newton Howard and Friends, which featured Toto's David Paich (keyboards), Steve Porcaro (keyboards), Jeff Porcaro (drums), and Joe Porcaro (percussion).

1983

In 1983, Howard was co-producer, musician (keyboards), and orchestrator of Riccardo Cocciante's album Sincerità.

1986

After briefly touring with Crosby, Stills and Nash, he took an opportunity brought to him by his manager to write a film score for a small-time movie. This career move would lead to his becoming a successful film music Composer. During this early foray into film music, he did not entirely abandon his previous musical path and returned for a brief collaboration with Elton John on his Tour De Force of Australia in the fall of 1986. He conducted both his own and Paul Buckmaster's arrangements during the second half of the set, which focused on orchestrated performances of selected songs from the Elton John catalog.

1990

Howard scored the surprise blockbuster romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990) and received his first Academy Award nomination for his score for Barbra Streisand's drama The Prince of Tides (1991). Setting the musical mood for numerous films throughout the decade, Howard's skills encompassed a plethora of genres, including four more best original score Oscar nominations, for the Harrison Ford action feature The Fugitive (1993), the Julia Roberts romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004), and Michael Clayton (2007). In addition, Howard scored the Western epic Wyatt Earp (1994), Kevin Costner's Waterworld (1995), and Primal Fear (1996). His collaborations on songs for One Fine Day (1996) and Junior (1994) garnered Oscar nominations for Best Song. Along with scoring small-scaled, independent films such as Five Corners (1988), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), and American Heart (1993), Howard proved equally skilled at composing for big-budget Hollywood spectacles, including Space Jam (1996), Dante's Peak (1997) (theme only – score was composed by John Frizzell), and Collateral (2004). He has also scored three Disney animated feature films: Dinosaur (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002). Although he concentrates primarily on films, Howard has also contributed music for TV, earning an Emmy nomination in 1995 for his theme to NBC's ratings smash ER (Howard also scored the two-hour pilot); he also provided the themes for The Sentinel and Gideon's Crossing, winning an Emmy for the latter.

1999

He has scored all of Shyamalan's suspense thrillers, The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), The Village (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), and The Last Airbender (2010), notably dropping the intense, yet subtle, opening credit music for The Sixth Sense from the corresponding Soundtrack album.

2005

On October 14, 2005 Howard replaced Howard Shore as Composer for King Kong, due to "differing creative aspirations for the score" between Shore and Director Peter Jackson. The resultant score earned Howard his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score. His work on Michael Clayton earned him an Oscar nomination. He followed in 2008 with his eighth Oscar nomination for Edward Zwick's Defiance. He also collaborated with Hans Zimmer on the scores for Batman Begins and its record-breaking sequel The Dark Knight.

2008

In May 2008, he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music.

2009

In 2009, he was awarded a Grammy alongside Hans Zimmer for the Soundtrack to The Dark Knight.

2010

In September 2010, he was appointed visiting professor of media composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

2012

From 2012-2015, James Newton Howard scored the music for the critically acclaimed Hunger Games franchise.

2014

In 2014, Howard scored two Academy Award nominated films, Nightcrawler and Maleficent.

2015

In October 2015, he was honored with the Max Steiner Film Music Achievement Award during the annual Hollywood in Vienna concert.

2016

On April 7, 2016, it was announced that Howard would compose the score for the upcoming fantasy drama Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a spin-off/prequel of the Harry Potter film series. In November 2016, Howard confirmed his return as Composer for the sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

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