How Johnny Marr transformed the career of Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer is a master of movie scoring. For his continued collaborations with the likes of Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve, and his genius mixing of orchestral and electronic composition, the German producer has become one of the most sought-after names in Hollywood.
Zimmer has scored over 150 films, many of them with wide-ranging commercial appeal. His work on well-loved series like the Pirates of the Caribbean and The Dark Knight and award-winning pictures like Inception and Interstellar have garnered him an equally diverse audience. Despite his immense reputation and even larger fanbase, Zimmer had played only a handful of live shows until the mid-2000s.
Now, though, the iconic film composer seems more than happy to head out on the road. Earlier this year, he embarked upon a tour of Europe, which took him from his home country of Germany to Belgium, Spain, Italy, the UK and more. After almost four decades of film scoring without touring, Zimmer suddenly found a zest for it, all because of the influence of Johnny Marr.
In 2014, Zimmer and the Smiths guitarist collaborated on the score for Marc Webb’s Marvel sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, alongside Pharrell Williams, Michael Einziger, Junkie XL, Andrew Kawcynski and Steve Mazzaro as The Magnificent Six.
Marr and Zimmer’s relationship extended beyond the Andrew Garfield-fronted web-slinging picture when the Smiths songwriter accompanied him on a number of dates on his 2016 tour. While promoting it, Zimmer suggested that it was actually Marr who convinced him to take his music on the road.
“It’s all Johnny Marr’s fault, really,” he told Irish News, “He talked me into doing a concert, then another, then another and now a tour. There I was, trapped away in my little room with no windows for 30 years, and now I’m playing arenas.”
The Smiths guitarist transformed Zimmer’s career from penning film scores at home to touring the world with his compositions. Though he struggled at first, Marr encouraged him through his stage fright until he was comfortable onstage: “I always had it, and it was Johnny making me go on stage that got me out there each time we’ve performed.”
He concluded: “He was always saying, ‘Come on, you can do it, you’ve got to’, and I got out there. You can’t not do something in life just because you are afraid of it. You cannot let fear rule your life; you just have to throw yourself at the mercy of humanity. If I mess up, people will be kind about it.”
