Brian Tyler
Brian Theodore Tyler[2] (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger and multi-instrumentalist best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 26-year career, Tyler has scored seven installments of the Fast & Furious franchise, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the fourth and fifth films of the Rambo franchise, Eagle Eye, the fourth and fifth films of the Final Destination franchise, the first three films of The Expendables franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside Danny Elfman, the Now You See Me franchise, Crazy Rich Asians, the fifth and sixth films of the Scream franchise, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and its upcoming sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, among others.
He also composed and re-arranged the current fanfare of the Universal Pictures logo, originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for Universal Pictures' 100th anniversary, which debuted with The Lorax (2012), and composed the 2013–2016 Marvel Studios logo, which debuted with Thor: The Dark World (2013), which he also composed the film's score. He composed the NFL Sunday Countdown Theme for ESPN, the Formula One theme (also used in Formula 2 and Formula 3), and the anthem for the Esports World Cup. He is also behind the soundtrack of many television series including Yellowstone, 1883 and 1923, all with Breton Vivian. For his work as a film composer, he won the IFMCA Awards 2014 Composer of the Year.
His composition for the film Last Call earned him the first of three Emmy nominations, a gold record, and induction into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[3] As of November 2017, his films have grossed $12 billion worldwide, putting him in the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time.[4]
He also has an electronic music alias, "Are We Dreaming".
Early life and education
Tyler was born and raised in Orange County, California. His grandfather was art director Walter H. Tyler. One of his first major influences was his pianist grandmother.[5] He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master's from Harvard University.[6] Growing up, he taught himself to play dozens of musical instruments, including drums, piano, guitar, bass, cello, world percussion, synthesizer, charango and bouzouki.[7]
Career
Film
Tyler began scoring features shortly after graduating from Harvard. Robert Kraft, who was impressed with Tyler's music, encouraged him to pursue a career in film scoring. Tyler's first film score was for the independent film Bartender (1997), directed by Gabe Torres. The following year, he and Red Elvises composed the score for Six-String Samurai (1998).[8]
Tyler's breakthrough came in the early 2000s, after composing for the Frailty (2001). His work on Last Call (2002) earned him an induction into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[3] Director William Friedkin, impressed with Tyler's work on Frailty, engaged him to compose for The Hunted (2003), which earned Tyler a World Soundtrack Award in 2002 for Best New Film Composer of the Year. Starting in 2003, Tyler began working on big-budget films, including Timeline (2003), Godsend (2004), The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), and Constantine (2005).[9] His cues for Children of Dune were used in multiple other theatrical film trailers, including Master and Commander (2003), Sahara (2005), Cinderella Man (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and Star Trek (2009).[10] The track "Summon the Worms" was used as a leader for the Dutch show Peking Express, and in the first leaked promotional reel for The Golden Compass (2007).[11]
In 2007, he was hired to compose for Partition (2007), where he integrated Indian and Middle Eastern music with orchestral writing. He conducted the orchestral portion of the score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony in Los Angeles.[12]
On September 5, 2011, Tyler announced that he was in talks to score the 2011 remake of Highlander, and pilot episodes for the animated series Transformers: Prime.[13] He scored four episodes of the latter.
In 2012, Tyler scored and arranged a new version of the fanfare of the Universal Pictures logo, originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith, in observance of the studio's 100th anniversary. The new score added a choir, a more majestic arranging style, and a closing drum cadence.[14] It made its debut alongside the logo with The Lorax on March 2, 2012.
In 2013, Tyler composed the fanfare of Marvel Studios, which made its debut alongside the logo with Thor: The Dark World, which he also composed the score of the film, on October 23, 2013, at the Odeon Leicester Square.
In addition to composing the score for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), an original song was released for the film entitled "Shell Shocked", credited to Tyler, as his stage name Madsonik, Kill the Noise, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J, Moxie Raia, and Seann Bowe. It reached No. 2 on the iTunes hip-hop singles charts and has sold over 500,000 copies.
On October 12, 2016, Tyler was hired to score the 2017 action-adventure film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.[15] He also contributed to the soundtrack by his stage name Madsonik, in a collaboration with Tom Morello and Kill The Noise entitled "Divebomb".[16]
On March 2, 2018, he announced on Twitter[17] that he had been hired to write a new theme for Formula One; it was released on March 23.[18] The theme was also used in both Formula 2 and Formula 3 since 2019, as well as the F1 Academy since 2023. In August 2018, a 27-track soundtrack composed by Tyler for the cable TV series Yellowstone was issued in CD format and as an MP3 download on Amazon.[19]
On July 16, 2024, it was announced that Tyler composed the official anthem of the Esports World Cup (an esports tournament series held in Saudi Arabia), entitled "Dare to Triumph".[20]
Music
Tyler is the musician behind the audio-visual project "Are We Dreaming". In an interview with BMI, he described his project as an exploration of space and the connection to human emotion driven through his usual film soundtrack style.[21]
Personal life
Tyler got divorced from his first wife on December 23, 2009.[2] He remarried on June 29, 2013. He has no children.[22]
Discography
Theatrical films
Short films
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Offside | Leanna Creel | N/a |
| 2003 | Last Stand | Gabe Torres | N/a |
| 2005 | Clair obscur | Benjamin Lemaire | N/a |
| 2011 | Tattoo | Bill Paxton | N/a |
| 2014 | All Hail the King | Drew Pearce | Composed with Mike Post |
Television film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Final Justice | Tommy Lee Wallace | N/a |
| 1999 | Sirens | John Sacret Young | N/a |
| 2000 | Trapped in a Purple Haze | Eric Laneuville | N/a |
| 2001 | Jane Doe | Kevin Alyn Elders | N/a |
| 2002 | Last Call | Henry Bromell | Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series |
| 2003 | Thoughtcrimes | Breck Eisner | N/a |
| 2005 | Painkiller Jane | Sanford Bookstaver | N/a |
| 2013 | Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising | Vinton Heuck Scooter Tidwell Todd Waterman | First score for an animated film |
| 2014 | Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe | N/a | Television special |
| 2015 | Edge | Shane Black | Television pilot |
Television series
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jenny | 17 episodes |
| 1998 | Living in Captivity | 8 episodes |
| 2000 | Level 9 | 13 episodes |
| 2001 | The Education of Max Bickford | 22 episodes |
| 2003 | Frank Herbert's Children of Dune | 3 episodes |
| Star Trek: Enterprise | Episodes "Canamar" and "Regeneration" | |
| 2007 | Fear Itself | Episode: "The Sacrifice" |
| 2010–20 | Hawaii Five-0 | 155 episodes Composed with Keith Power |
| 2010–13 | Transformers: Prime | 65 episodes Composed with Matthew Margeson Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition |
| 2011 | Terra Nova | 13 episodes |
| 2013–17 | Sleepy Hollow | 36 episodes Composed with Robert Lydecker Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music |
| 2014–18 | Scorpion | 66 episodes Composed with Tony Morales |
| 2018–24 | Yellowstone | 47 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian |
| 2019 | Swamp Thing | 10 episodes |
| 2021–22 | 1883 | 10 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian |
| 2022–present | 1923 | 8 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian |
Video games
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Lego Universe | N/a |
| 2011 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | N/a |
| Need for Speed: The Run | N/a | |
| 2012 | Far Cry 3 | Nominated- BAFTA Games Award for Best Audio Achievement |
| 2013 | Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel | N/a |
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | Nominated- BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Music | |
| 2018 | F1 2018 | Composed the theme song for Formula One |
| 2019 | Lost Ark | Composed track "Bon Voyage"; Main score composed by Yong Kim |
| F1 2019 | Composed the theme song for Formula One | |
| 2020 | PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace (Peacekeeper Elite) | Composed track "Meteor Crisis" for the Chinese version |
| F1 2020 | Composed the theme song for Formula One | |
| 2021 | F1 2021 | |
| 2022 | F1 22 | |
| F1 Manager 2022 | ||
| 2023 | F1 23 | |
| F1 Manager 2023 |
Awards and nominations
See also
References
- ^ "Brian Tyler – Composer Biography, Facts and Music Compositions". Famourcomposers.net. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
- ^ a b "Marcie Lynn Tyler vs Brian Theodore Tyler". UniCourt.com. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ a b "Academy invites 135 new members". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Brian Tyler Movie Box Office Results". Boxofficemojo.com.
- ^ "Interview with Brian Tyler 8Dio". Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
- ^ "Brian Tyler Bio". briantyler.com.
- ^ "Interview: Brian Tyler". Corduroy magazine. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
- ^ Comerford, Jason. "Sayonara, baby! – Brian Tyler and Six-String Samurai". Islandlife. Archived from the original on November 8, 2005. Retrieved December 16, 2005.
- ^ "SoundtrackNet : Interview – Brian Tyler". Soundtrack.net. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2005.
- ^ "Adtunes Top Ad Music of 2008". Adtunes.com. January 2009. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
The original music is called "War Begins", from the Children of Dune miniseries score by film composer Brian Tyler.
- ^ His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass – Sizzle Reel. YouTube. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
- ^ Goldwasser, Dan (June 16, 2006). "Brian Tyler scores Partition". Scoringsessions.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
- ^ "Brian Tyler – Music Is Life". web.me.com. September 5, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
- ^ Scoring the New Universal Logo – 100th Anniversary (2012) HD. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
- ^ "Brian Tyler Scoring 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' | Film Music Reporter". Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ "Your EDM Exclusive: Madsonik Enlists Tom Morello & Kill The Noise For 'Divebomb' – Your EDM". January 19, 2017.
- ^ "Twitter".
- ^ "Must See – Watch F1's new opening title sequence". Formula1.com. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
- ^ Amazon CD download services. Yellowstone soundtrack. Retrieved August 29, 2018. [1]
- ^ Esports World Cup [@EWC_EN] (July 16, 2024). "The official #EsportsWorldCup Anthem is now officially available! "Dare to Triumph" by Brian Tyler" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Brian Tyler's Music Has Us All Wondering "Are We Dreaming?"". BMI.com. May 9, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
- ^ "Brian Tyler Married". Qmunicate Magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (April 25, 2017). "'Fate of the Furious' Composer Brian Tyler on the Evolution of the Franchise, 'The Mummy', and More". Collider. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
- ^ "Brian Tyler to Score Matt Bettinelli-Olpin's & Tyler Gillett's Scream". Film Music Reporter. May 12, 2021. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Tangcay, Jazz (April 7, 2023). "'Super Mario Bros.' Composer Brian Tyler on Nostalgic Nods to Iconic Nintendo Themes by Koji Kondo". Variety. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
- ^ "Brian Tyler Scoring Ruben Fleischer's 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
- ^ "Brian Tyler to Return for Illumination Entertainment's 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie'". Film Music Reporter. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
- ^ "IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association – IFMCA announces winners of 2009 Awards". Filmmusiccritics.org. March 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
- ^ "IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association – IFMCA Winners 2013". Filmmusiccritics.org. February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ^ Johns, Nikara (February 26, 2014). "'Gravity,' 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' Lead Saturn Awards Noms". Variety.com.
- ^ "2014 Emmy Nominations: 'Breaking Bad,' 'True Detective' Among the Honored". New York Times. July 10, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
External links
- Official website
- Brian Tyler at IMDb
