Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor and record producer. He has scored films such as ''

Fruitvale Station ''Fruitvale Station'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. It is Coogler's feature directorial debut and is based on the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, a young man killed in 2009 by Bay ...

'', the ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

'' franchise entries ''Creed'' and ''

Creed II ''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. The sequel to ''Creed'' (2015) and the eighth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise, the film stars Michae ...

'', ''Venom'', and '' Tenet''. He also composed the current

fanfares A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perf ...

for

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...

and the new ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' brand logo. For his work on the 2018 superhero film ''

Black Panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...

'', he won the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by t ...

and the

Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media is an honor presented to a composer (or composers) for an original score created for a film, TV show or series, or other visual media at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was establishe ...

. He further scored the second ''Black Panther'' film, 2022's ''Wakanda Forever''. Göransson is also known for his work on American TV series like ''

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

'', ''

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day ( Zoo ...

'' and ''

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of ''Retur ...

'', which earned him the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. Starting in 2019, the category recognizes scripted programs. Unscripted programs compete for Music Composition for a Documentary ...

for both

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguati ...

and

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

's finales. He scored the music for ''The Mandalorians spinoff series, ''

The Book of Boba Fett ''The Book of Boba Fett'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is part of the ''Star Wars'' franchise and a spin-off from the series ''The Mandalorian'', taking place in th ...

'', which debuted in 2021. As a record producer, he has frequently collaborated with

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...

, producing his studio albums ''

Camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

'', ''

Because the Internet ''Because the Internet'' is the second studio album by American recording artist Donald Glover, under the stage name Childish Gambino. It was released on December 10, 2013, by Glassnote Records. The recording process began in 2012 and ended in O ...

'' and '' "Awaken, My Love!"'', among others. Göransson's producing work on Gambino's 2018 single " This Is America" was met with acclaim and accolades, including two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

— for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and Song of the Year. He has also produced for other recording artists, such as

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

Chance the Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Bennett released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' in 2012. He ...

Haim The name ''Haim'' can be a first name or surname originating in the Hebrew language, or deriving from the Old German name '' Haimo''. Hebrew etymology Chayyim ( he, חַיִּים ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Ha ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

, Travis Scott and

Moses Sumney Moses Sumney is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, ''Mid-City Island'', was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled ''Lamentations''. His first full-length album, ''Aromanticism'', was released ...

Early life

Göransson was born and raised in

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

. His mother Maria, a florist, is from

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland, and his father Tomas, a guitar teacher, is Swedish. He has an older sister named Jessika. He is named after

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

. He began music lessons at a young age and went on to graduate from the Stockholm Royal College of Music. In 2007, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to study at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. It was at that university that Ludwig met

Ryan Coogler Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is a recipient of four NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, a Golden Globe Award nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Best Pictu ...

, for whom Ludwig composed the score for the award-winning short film ''Fig'' in 2011 (written by Alex George Pickering), which Coogler directed while at USC. The pair would then work together on ''

'', ''Creed'' and ''Black Panther''. Soon after graduating USC he began work assisting Theodore Shapiro, a composer known for films such as '' Along Came Polly'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''

Idiocracy ''Idiocracy'' is a 2006 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Judge and co-written by Judge and Etan Cohen. Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, and Terry Crews, the film tells the story of Corporal Joe Bauers ...

'', and ''

Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a ...

''. Ludwig's first break came in 2009 as the composer for the comedy ''Community''.

Film and TV composer

In 2013, Göransson's first feature film came from fellow former USC graduate

. Göransson composed the score to Coogler's critically acclaimed drama ''

'', based on the fatal shooting of 22-year-old

Oscar Grant Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old African-American man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid ...

on 1 January 2009. The film won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience awards in the Dramatic category at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, also taking home the Avenir Prize and Un Certain Regard awards at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In August 2013, Göransson signed a management deal as a composer for

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

's label,

Roc Nation Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...

. That year he also composed the music for the movie ''

We're the Millers ''We're the Millers'' is a 2013 American crime comedy film directed by Rawson M. Thurber and starring Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn, and Ed Helms. The film's screenplay w ...

''. In 2015, Coogler and Göransson again worked together this time on the critically acclaimed

Rocky franchise ''Rocky'' is an American sports drama multimedia franchise created by Sylvester Stallone, which began with the eponymous 1976 film and has since become a cultural phenomenon, centered on the boxing career of Rocky Balboa. The franchise has bee ...

film ''Creed''. By 2016–17, he was scoring ''

True Memoirs of an International Assassin ''True Memoirs of an International Assassin'' is a 2016 American action comedy film directed by Jeff Wadlow from a screenplay co-written with Jeff Morris. The film stars Kevin James, Zulay Henao, Andy García, Maurice Compte, Kelen Coleman, And ...

'', ''

Central Intelligence ''Central Intelligence'' is a 2016 American buddy action comedy film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and written by Thurber, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen. The film stars Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson as two old high school classmates wh ...

'' and '' Everything, Everything''. In 2018, Göransson and Coogler came together for their third collaboration, ''Black Panther''. Göransson set out to create a score that would sit somewhere between traditional African instrumentation and a traditional superhero score. In order to do this he travelled to Senegal to research traditional African music and instruments. There he met musician

Baaba Maal Baaba Maal ( ff, 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤦𞤢 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤, italics=no, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several al ...

whose voice is featured in the score who sings in his native Fula language. He later traveled to the

International Library of African Music The International Library of African Music (ILAM) is an organization dedicated to the preservation and study of African music. Seated in Grahamstown, South Africa, ILAM is attached to the Music Department at Rhodes University and coordinates its ...

in South Africa, founded by

Hugh Tracey Hugh Travers Tracey was an English ethnomusicologist. He and his wife collected and archived music from Southern and Central Africa. From the 1920s through the 1970s, Tracey made over 35,000 recordings of African folk music. He popularized the ...

, where he listened to recordings of traditional musicians to ensure the score had a culturally traditional sound. In 2019, Göransson's score for ''Black Panther'' won the

and the

. On 22 May 2019, it was announced that Göransson was composing the film score for

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...

's '' Tenet''. He worked on original songs and music with

for the 2020 film ''

Trolls World Tour ''Trolls World Tour'' (often named as ''Trolls 2: World Tour'') is a 2020 American computer-animated musical comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls created by ...

''. Since 2019, Göransson has composed the score for the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

television series ''

'', which is set in the ''

'' universe, as well as the fanfare for the franchise's brand logo. He won the

for both

and

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

's finales. In 2021, he started scoring sessions for ''The Mandalorians spinoff series, ''

'', which premiered on 29 December 2021. In 2021, he was chosen to be the composer of the new fanfare for

, which combines a new arrangement of " As Time Goes By" with elements of the original

Max Steiner Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...

fanfare. He was tapped to score the Pixar film, ''

Turning Red ''Turning Red'' is a 2022 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Domee Shi in her feature directorial debut, written by Shi ...

'', as well as a second collaboration with Christopher Nolan, '' Oppenheimer''.

Record producer

In 2010, when Donald Glover first approached Göransson about his side project, Childish Gambino, the two were working on the set of ''Community''. Since then they have released four albums: ''

'', ''

'', '' "Awaken, My Love!"'', and '' 3.15.20''. Göransson served as producer and writer for every song on the album ''"Awaken, My Love!"'', inspired by

Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive fu ...

and black power music of the '70s. In November, they earned four Grammy nominations for their work, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for " Redbone". Overall, his work with Gambino earned him six Grammy Award nominations In 2012, Göransson produced

HAIM The name ''Haim'' can be a first name or surname originating in the Hebrew language, or deriving from the Old German name '' Haimo''. Hebrew etymology Chayyim ( he, חַיִּים ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Ha ...

's debut EP and helped establish the band with a brand new sound on the song "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

". He also produced two songs on HAIM's debut album ''

Days Are Gone ''Days Are Gone'' is the debut studio album by American pop rock band Haim, released on September 27, 2013, by Polydor Records. The album spawned six singles: "Forever", " Don't Save Me", "Falling", "The Wire", "If I Could Change Your Mind", and ...

''. On 5 May 2018, " This Is America" was released. Produced by Gambino and Ludwig Göransson, the song features a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-style choir and background contributions from various American rappers

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

Slim Jxmmi Rae Sremmurd ( ; "Drummers Ear" spelled backwards) is an American hip hop duo originating from Tupelo, Mississippi, formed by two brothers, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. In 2013, they signed a record deal with Mike Will Made It's EarDrummers imp ...

, BlocBoy JB,

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), known professionally as Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He is best known as the co-founder and former frontman of hip hop group Migos. Quavo is the uncle of late fellow Migos m ...

and Offset. "This Is America" debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the 31st song to do so in the chart's history. The song won in all four of its nominated categories at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...

for

, Song of the Year,

Best Rap/Sung Performance The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...

, and

Best Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

Personal life

Göransson is married to American violinist Serena McKinney. They were married in 2018, and their son Apollo was born in 2019.

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goransson, Ludwig 1984 births Animated film score composers Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Grammy Award winners Hollywood Records artists Interscope Records artists Living people Male film score composers Male television composers People from Linköping Primetime Emmy Award winners Royal College of Music, Stockholm alumni Swedish expatriates in the United States Swedish film score composers Swedish television composers Swedish people of Polish descent University of Southern California alumni Musikförläggarnas pris winners