Kristen Anderson-Lopez (born March 21, 1972) is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 computer-animated musical film '' Frozen'' and its 2019 sequel '' Frozen II'' with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed ...

for " Let It Go" from ''Frozen'' and " Remember Me" from '' Coco'' (2017) at the 86th and 90th awards respectively. She also won 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 pre ...

at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

Personal life

Anderson-Lopez was raised in Croton-on-Hudson, New York (a suburb of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

), until 1986; the Myers Park neighborhood of

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

, from 1986 to 1990; and Waxhaw, North Carolina (a suburb of Charlotte), from 1990 onward (which was her home during her college years). Her parents, Erin and John, still live in Waxhaw. According to her father, Anderson-Lopez first fell in love with the theater at the age of four, when he took her to see a U.S. Bicentennial musical tribute staged in their then-hometown of Croton-on-Hudson. After her family moved to North Carolina, she attended and graduated from

Charlotte Country Day School Charlotte Country Day School is a private, secular school in Charlotte, North Carolina, with classes in grades Junior Kindergarten – 12. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Southern Associat ...

. She went on to

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

in western Massachusetts, where she double-majored in drama and psychology and graduated in 1994. After a theater internship in Florida, Anderson-Lopez spent several years working temporary jobs while pursuing her dream of becoming a

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

performer in New York City. In 1999, she entered the

BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 20.6 milli ...

and found her true calling as a

, and also met her future husband Robert Lopez. In October 2003, Anderson married Lopez, who would go on to become an EGOT-winning songwriter, composer and lyricist, including three

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

s for ''

Avenue Q ''Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of ...

'' and '' The Book of Mormon''. They have two daughters; Katie and Annie, who both had voice parts in ''Frozen''. Anderson-Lopez's sister, Kate Anderson, co-wrote the songs for '' Olaf's Frozen Adventure''.

Stage productions

In 2006, Anderson-Lopez and her husband wrote the songs for the

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

production of '' Finding Nemo – The Musical''. Anderson-Lopez is the co-creator of the musical '' In Transit'', developed at the O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference. The musical ran

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the 59E59 Theatre, from September 21, 2010, to October 30, 2010. The production received the 2011

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for Outstanding Ensemble, as well as a nomination for the 2011

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...

, Outstanding Musical (among others) and the 2011

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newsp ...

for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. It opened on Broadway at the

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

in November 2016, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. She co-created the romantic stage musical ''Up Here'', which debuted in 2015, with her husband and Alex Timbers. Her work for young audiences includes numerous short and full-length musical adaptations for Theatreworks USA (''Diary of a Worm'', '' Fancy Nancy'', ''Condensed Classics''). Anderson-Lopez worked with her husband on the

Disney Theatrical Productions Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the flagship stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a major business unit of The Walt ...

stage musical adaptation of '' Frozen'', with Jennifer Lee writing the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

Film and television productions

Anderson-Lopez's first collaborations with her husband involved writing several songs together for children's televisions shows, such as ''

Wonder Pets ''Wonder Pets!'' is an American educational animated children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon. The series follows a trio of classroom pets—Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling—who use teamwork to ...

'' on

Nick Jr Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family ...

and '' Bear in the Big Blue House'' on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

. Anderson-Lopez, along with her husband Robert Lopez and

Henry Jackman Henry Pryce Jackman (born 1974) is an English composer. He composed music for films such as '' Kong: Skull Island'', '' X-Men: First Class'', '' Winnie the Pooh'', '' Wreck-It Ralph'', '' Puss in Boots'', '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Captain ...

, wrote and produced music for the 2011

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film '' Winnie the Pooh'', for which they were nominated for an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally de ...

for Best Music in a Feature Production. She also provided the

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

of Kanga in the film. Her work with her husband writing songs for the 2013 Disney film '' Frozen'',Disney's 'Frozen': Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel to voice animated tale
Retrieved December 1, 2013 including " Let It Go", won her an

at the

86th Academy Awards The 86th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2013 and took place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. ...

and two

Grammy Award 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 pr ...

s at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Anderson-Lopez and her husband also wrote the music for the sequel, '' Frozen II''. Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez again collaborated in writing songs and lyrics for the 2017 Pixar film ''Coco'', for which she won for an Annie Award for Music in a Feature Production. She also won an

for the song " Remember Me" at the 90th Academy Awards. Kristen Anderson-Lopez sings Elsa’s part in “I Seek the Truth”, an outtake song of the '' Frozen II'' soundtrack, along with Patti Murin singing Anna’s part. Murin had originated the role of Anna in the Broadway production of ''Frozen''. Anderson-Lopez and her husband wrote and produced music for the 2021 series '' WandaVision'', set in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

. The series features multiple title theme songs based on various classic American sitcoms, as well as the song "

Agatha All Along "Agatha All Along", also known as "It Was ______ All Along", is an original song from the Marvel Studios Disney+ miniseries ''WandaVision''. Written by the series' theme song composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the seventh ep ...

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally de ...
s

Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
s

Grammy Award 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 pr ...
s

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...
s

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson-Lopez, Daniel Actresses from Charlotte, North Carolina American women songwriters American musical theatre composers Women musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists Songwriters from New York (state) Annie Award winners Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Grammy Award winners People from Croton-on-Hudson, New York Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Williams College alumni Charlotte Country Day School alumni 1972 births People from Waxhaw, North Carolina Animation composers 21st-century American women musicians