Michael Kamen

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Michael Arnold Kamen (born April 15, 1948 in New York , † November 18, 2003 in London ) was an American composer who gained fame especially for his film music , but was also active as an orchestrator , arranger and songwriter .

Life

Kamen graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York in 1965 and then studied oboe at the Juilliard School .

In 1971 he began composing film music (which he mostly conducted himself), including box office hits such as Die Hard , James Bond 007 - License to Kill or Robin Hood - King of Thieves . From the latter comes the song (Everything I Do) I Do It for You , on which Kamen was co-author and which, as interpreted by Bryan Adams, became a worldwide success and topped the charts in Great Britain for 16 weeks in a row, which is a record to this day.

Kamen's interest in combining classical and popular music is particularly evident when working for the Metallica album S&M . For the concert recorded in 1999 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra , Kamen wrote the orchestral arrangements and conducted. According to Klaus Meine, singer of the Scorpions, Kamen had previously planned a similar project with them, which he gave up in favor of working with Metallica. However, he has worked with well-known musicians and groups before, such as Pink Floyd , Aerosmith , David Gilmour , Roger Waters , Queen ( Who Wants to Live Forever ) , Eric Clapton ( Edge of Darkness , 24 Nights ), Tom Petty , David Bowie , Eurythmics , Queensrÿche , Rush , Herbie Hancock , The Cranberries , Bryan Adams, Sting , Lenny Kravitz or Kate Bush . While working on S&M and on the following world tour, Kamen was officially a member of the band, according to Metallica (in a documentary about S&M ) .

One of his last works was the music for the German animated film Back to Gaya , which Kamen was unable to complete due to his sudden death.

In 1996 the composer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis . He died of a heart attack in 2003, leaving behind his wife and two children.

Filmography (selection)

Additional information

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Custodis : Chapter Film Music in Concert: Metallica with Michael Kamen and Moment of Glory - The Scorpions and the Berliner Philharmoniker. in: Classical Music Today. A search for clues in rock music. Bielefeld transcript-Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-8376-1249-3 .
Music from the James Bond film series
Film composers

Monty Norman ( 1962 ) • John Barry (1963–1971; 1974 ; 1979 ; 1983–1987) • George Martin ( 1973 ) • Marvin Hamlisch ( 1977 ) • Bill Conti ( 1981 ) • Michael Kamen ( 1989 ) • Éric Serra ( 1995 ) • David Arnold (1997–2008) • Thomas Newman ( 2012 ; 2015 ) • Hans Zimmer ( 2020 )

Theme music

John Barry Orchestra - The James Bond Theme • Matt Monro - From Russia with Love • Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger • Tom Jones - Thunderball • Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice • John Barry Orchestra - On Her Majesty's Secret Service • Louis Armstrong - We Have All the Time in the World • Shirley Bassey - Diamonds Are Forever • Paul McCartney & Wings - Live and Let Die • Lulu - The Man with the Golden Gun • Carly Simon - Nobody Does It Better • Shirley Bassey - Moonraker • Sheena Easton - For Your Eyes Only • Rita Coolidge - All Time High • Duran Duran - A View to a Kill • a-ha - The Living Daylights • Gladys Knight - License to Kill • Tina Turner - GoldenEye • Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies • Garbage - The World Is Not Enough • Madonna - Die Another Day • Chris Cornell - You Know My Name • Jack White & Alicia Keys - Another Way to Die • Adele - Skyfall • Sam Smith - Writing's on the Wall • Billie Eilish - No Time to Die

personal data
SURNAME Came, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kamen, Michael Arnold (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 2003
Place of death London