Ludwig Göransson
Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (/ˈɡɔːrənsən/,[2] Swedish: [ˈlɵ̌dːvɪɡ ˈjœ̂ːranˌsɔn]; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish composer, conductor, and record producer. His work includes Fruitvale Station, the Rocky franchise entries Creed and Creed II, and Venom. For his work on the 2018 superhero film Black Panther, he won the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media[3] and the Academy Award for Best Original Score,[4] as well as a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. Göransson is also known for his work on U.S. TV series Community, Happy Endings, New Girl, and The Mandalorian.
Ludwig Göransson | |
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Birth name | Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson |
Born | Linköping, Sweden | 1 September 1984
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Years active | 2008–present |
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As a producer, he has frequently collaborated with Childish Gambino, producing his studio albums Camp, Because the Internet and "Awaken, My Love!" among others. Göransson's producing work on Gambino's single "This Is America" was met with acclaim and accolades. The song earned him two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Overall, his work with Gambino earned him six Grammy Award nominations.[5]
He has also produced for other recording artists such as Haim, Chance the Rapper and Pell.
Early life
Göransson was born and raised in Linköping, Sweden. His mother, Maria, is a Pole from Warsaw and his father Tomas is a Swede. He has an older sister named Jessika.[6][7] He is named after Ludwig van Beethoven.[6] 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 to study at the University of Southern California Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. It was at USC that Ludwig met Ryan Coogler. Ludwig composed music for the award-winning short film Fig in 2011 (written by Alex George Pickering), which Ryan directed while at USC. The pair would eventually go on to work together on Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther. Soon after graduating USC he began work assisting Theodore Shapiro known for films such as Along Came Polly, The Devil Wears Prada, Idiocracy, and Tropic Thunder. 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 Ryan Coogler. Göransson composed the score to Coogler's critically acclaimed drama Fruitvale Station, based on the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant 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.
In August 2013, Göransson signed a management deal as a composer for Jay-Z's label, Roc Nation.[8][6] That year he also composed the music for the movie We're the Millers.
In 2015, Coogler and Göransson again worked together this time on the critically acclaimed Rocky franchise film Creed. By 2016-17, he was scoring True Memoirs of an International Assassin, Central Intelligence and Everything, Everything.
In 2018, Göransson and Coogler arrived at their third collaboration Black Panther.[9] 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 whose voice is featured in the score who sings in his native Fula language. He later traveled to the International Library of African Music in South Africa, founded by Hugh Tracey, where he listened to recordings of traditional musicians to ensure the score had a culturally traditional sound.[10] In 2019, Göransson's score for Black Panther won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.[11]
On 22 May 2019, it was announced that Göransson will compose the film score for Christopher Nolan's Tenet.[12] He worked on original songs and music with Justin Timberlake for the 2020 film Trolls World Tour.[6]
In 2019, Göransson composed the score for the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, which is set in the Star Wars universe.[6]
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 three albums: Camp, Because the Internet, and "Awaken, My Love!". Göransson served as producer and writer for every song on the album "Awaken, My Love!", inspired by Parliament-Funkadelic 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."[13]
In 2012, Göransson produced HAIM's debut EP and helped establish the band with a brand new sound on the song "Forever". He also produced two songs on HAIM's debut album Days Are Gone.
On 5 May 2018, "This Is America" was released. Produced by Gambino and Ludwig Göransson the song features a gospel-style choir and background contributions from various American rappers Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi, BlocBoy JB, 21 Savage, Quavo 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 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Music Video.
Personal life
Göransson is married to American violinist Serena McKinney.[14] They were married in 2018, and their son Apollo was born in 2019.[6]
Discography
Awards and nominations
References
- "Ludwig Goransson Scores Creed Movie - ROCNATION". 25 November 2015.
- The Making Of ’Wakanda’ With Ludwig Göransson - Presented By Marvel Studio’s Black Panther (YouTube video). Genius. 16 February 2018. Event occurs at 1.45. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
'I called him and I was like: "Hey, my name is Ludwig Göransson and I’m a film composer[…]"'
- "'Black Panther' Wins Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media". Marvel. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- "Ludwig Göransson Wins Best Original Score Oscar for 'Black Panther'". Indiewire. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
- "Ludwig Goransson". GRAMMY.com. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- Harper, Marques (1 November 2019). "'Black Panther' composer Ludwig Göransson brings new sounds to 'Star Wars' series 'The Mandalorian'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
- "LUDWIG GORANSSON WINS 2019 OSCAR FOR BLACK PANTHER SCORE". Oscars.
- "ROCNATION | Ludwig Goransson". Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- "How Black Panther Composer Ludwig Göransson Found the Sound of Wakanda | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- "Baaba Maal on soundtracking Black Panther's Wakanda". NME. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-02-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Ludwig Göransson to Score Christopher Nolan's Tenet | Film Music Reporter". 22 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- "Producer Ludwig Göransson on helping create Awaken, My Love! and the Black Panther score". The FADER. Retrieved 2018-07-06.
- Greiving, Tim (February 21, 2019). "Composer Ludwig Göransson on 'Black Panther' Music, Childish Gambino and Danny Elfman". Variety.
- "Ludwig Göransson - Awards - IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- "Drake Leads 2018 SimGriggs Productions & Contessa Leshay will be amongst the celebs. BET Hip-Hop Awards Nominee Slate: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- Xu, Linda (2018-11-15). "'Hollywood Reporter,' 'Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List of Winners". Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- WAFCA Staff (2018-12-01). "The 2018 WAFCA Awards". Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
- "Ludwig Göransson". GRAMMY.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
- "The Mandalorian". Television Academy. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
External links
- Ludwig Göransson on IMDb
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived February 7, 2011)