James Horner was born on August 14, 1953. Horner was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in England. It was there that he studied piano at London’s Royal College of Music. He proceeded to get a music degree from the University of Southern California. He received his master’s degree and doctorate degree from UCLA. He began composing scores after scoring several assignments from the American Film Institute. He was teaching at UCLA and quit to continue working on films. One of his first major scores was the 1979 film Lady in Red, although he did not begin to become recognized until 1982 when he scored Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Horner would go on to score more than 75 films. He was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winning 2 for Titanic; one for Best Original Dramatic Score and one Best Original Song for “My Heart Will Go On.” Horner would later go on to receive 3 Grammys and 2 Golden Globe Awards for his contribution to the Titanic soundtrack. He was known for the combinations of choral and electronic elements found in his music.
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James Horner left behind his wife Sarah and their two daughters. He has two films coming out in 2015, “Southpaw” and “The 33”. He was currently working on the score to one of the two Avatar sequels that are planned. Horner was said to have a net worth of $15 million.