Brian Tyler

Brian Tyler

Brian Theodore Tyler (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 sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, among others.

Tyler also created the current arrangement of the Universal Pictures logo fanfare (originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith) which debuted with The Lorax (2012) in celebration of Universal Pictures' 100th anniversary. He also 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, (/wiki/1883(TVseries)) and (/wiki/1923(TVseries)), 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. As of November 2017, his films have grossed $12 billion worldwide, putting him in the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time.

He also has an electronic music alias, "Are We Dreaming".

Early life and education

Brian Tyler

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. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master's from Harvard University. Growing up, he taught himself to play dozens of musical instruments, including drums, piano, guitar, bass, cello, world percussion, synthesizer, charango and bouzouki.

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).

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. 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). 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). 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).

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.

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. 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. 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. He also contributed to the soundtrack by his stage name Madsonik, in a collaboration with Tom Morello and Kill The Noise entitled "Divebomb".

On March 2, 2018, he announced on Twitter that he had been hired to write a new theme for Formula One; it was released on March 23. 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.

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".

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.

Personal life

Brian Tyler

Tyler got divorced from his first wife on December 23, 2009. He remarried on June 29, 2013. He has no children.

Discography

Theatrical films

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Director</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1997</td><td>Bartender</td><td>Gabe Torres</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>1998</td><td>Six-String Samurai</td><td>Lance Mungia</td><td>Composed with Red Elvises</td></tr><tr><td>1999</td><td>The Settlement</td><td>Mark Steilen</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The 4th Floor</td><td>Josh Klausner</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Simon Sez</td><td>Kevin Alyn Elders</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2000</td><td>Panic</td><td>Henry Bromell</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Shadow Hours</td><td>Isaac H. Eaton</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Four Dogs Playing Poker</td><td>Paul Rachman</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Terror Tract</td><td>Lance W. Dreesen Clint Hutchison</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2001</td><td>Plan B</td><td>Greg Yaitanes</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Fast and the Furious</td><td>Rob Cohen</td><td>"Fourth Floor" track, main score composed by BT (Brian Transeau)</td></tr><tr><td>Frailty</td><td>Bill Paxton</td><td>Nominated – Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Score Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td></tr><tr><td>2002</td><td>Bubba Ho-tep</td><td>Don Coscarelli</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Vampires: Los Muertos</td><td>Tommy Lee Wallace</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Darkness Falls</td><td>Jonathan Liebesman</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Hunted</td><td>William Friedkin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Big Empty</td><td>Steve Anderson</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Timeline</td><td>Richard Donner</td><td>Replaced Jerry Goldsmith</td></tr><tr><td>2004</td><td>The Final Cut</td><td>Omar Naim</td><td>Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td></tr><tr><td>Godsend</td><td>Nick Hamm</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Perfect Opposites</td><td>Matt Cooper</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Paparazzi</td><td>Paul Abascal</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2005</td><td>Constantine</td><td>Francis Lawrence</td><td>Composed with Klaus Badelt Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td></tr><tr><td>The Greatest Game Ever Played</td><td>Bill Paxton</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2006</td><td>Annapolis</td><td>Justin Lin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Bug</td><td>William Friedkin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift</td><td>Justin Lin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2007</td><td>Finishing the Game</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Partition</td><td>Vic Sarin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>War</td><td>Philip Atwell</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem</td><td>The Brothers Strause</td><td>Original Alien themes by James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal & John Frizzell and original Predator themes by Alan Silvestri</td></tr><tr><td>2008</td><td>Rambo</td><td>Sylvester Stallone</td><td>Original Rambo themes by Jerry Goldsmith</td></tr><tr><td>Bangkok Dangerous</td><td>Pang Brothers</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Eagle Eye</td><td>D. J. Caruso</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Lazarus Project</td><td>John Patrick Glenn</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2009</td><td>The Killing Room</td><td>Jonathan Liebesman</td><td>Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td></tr><tr><td>Dragonball Evolution</td><td>James Wong</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Fast & Furious</td><td>Justin Lin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Final Destination</td><td>David R. Ellis</td><td>Original Final Destination themes by Shirley Walker</td></tr><tr><td>Middle Men</td><td>George Gallo</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Law Abiding Citizen</td><td>F. Gary Gray</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td>The Expendables</td><td>Sylvester Stallone</td><td>BMI Film Music Award</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Battle: Los Angeles</td><td>Jonathan Liebesman</td><td>BMI Film Music Award</td></tr><tr><td>Fast Five</td><td>Justin Lin</td><td>BMI Film Music Award</td></tr><tr><td>Final Destination 5</td><td>Steven Quale</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2012</td><td>John Dies at the End</td><td>Don Coscarelli</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Columbus Circle</td><td>George Gallo</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Brake</td><td>Gabe Torres</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Expendables 2</td><td>Simon West</td><td>BMI Film Music Award</td></tr><tr><td>2013</td><td>Iron Man 3</td><td>Shane Black</td><td>BMI Film Music Award Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Music Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Film</td></tr><tr><td>Now You See Me</td><td>Louis Leterrier</td><td>Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Music</td></tr><tr><td>Standing Up</td><td>D. J. Caruso</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Thor: The Dark World</td><td>Alan Taylor</td><td>Themes by Patrick Doyle Replaced Carter Burwell</td></tr><tr><td>2014</td><td>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</td><td>Jonathan Liebesman</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Expendables 3</td><td>Patrick Hughes</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Into the Storm</td><td>Steven Quale</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2015</td><td>Furious 7</td><td>James Wan</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Avengers: Age of Ultron</td><td>Joss Whedon</td><td>Composed with Danny Elfman Themes by Alan Silvestri BMI Film Music Award Nominated – Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi Film</td></tr><tr><td>The Disappointments Room</td><td>D. J. Caruso</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Truth</td><td>James Vanderbilt</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2016</td><td>Criminal</td><td>Ariel Vromen</td><td>Composed with Keith Power</td></tr><tr><td>Now You See Me 2</td><td>Jon M. Chu</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2017</td><td>XXX: Return of Xander Cage</td><td>D. J. Caruso</td><td>Composed with Robert Lydecker</td></tr><tr><td>Power Rangers</td><td>Dean Israelite</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Fate of the Furious</td><td>F. Gary Gray</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>The Mummy</td><td>Alex Kurtzman</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>Crazy Rich Asians</td><td>Jon M. Chu</td><td>Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Escape Room</td><td>Adam Robitel</td><td>Composed with John Carey</td></tr><tr><td>What Men Want</td><td>Adam Shankman</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Five Feet Apart</td><td>Justin Baldoni</td><td>Composed with Breton Vivian</td></tr><tr><td>Liberation</td><td>Danial Hajibarat</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Ready or Not</td><td>Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Rambo: Last Blood</td><td>Adrian Grunberg</td><td>Original Rambo themes by Jerry Goldsmith</td></tr><tr><td>Charlie's Angels</td><td>Elizabeth Banks</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>Clouds</td><td>Justin Baldoni</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>Those Who Wish Me Dead</td><td>Taylor Sheridan</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>F9</td><td>Justin Lin</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Escape Room: Tournament of Champions</td><td>Adam Robitel</td><td>Composed with John Carey</td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Scream</td><td>Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett</td><td>Original Scream themes by Marco Beltrami</td></tr><tr><td>Redeeming Love</td><td>D. J. Caruso</td><td>Composed with Breton Vivian</td></tr><tr><td>Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers</td><td>Akiva Schaffer</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>Scream VI</td><td>Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett</td><td>Composed with Sven Faulconer</td></tr><tr><td>The Super Mario Bros. Movie</td><td>Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic</td><td>First score for an animated theatrical film Original Nintendo themes by Koji Kondo</td></tr><tr><td>Fast X</td><td>Louis Leterrier</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>Abigail</td><td>Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Transformers One</td><td>Josh Cooley</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2025</td><td>Nuremberg</td><td>James Vanderbilt</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Now You See Me: Now You Don't</td><td>Ruben Fleischer</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2026</td><td>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie</td><td>Aaron Horvath Michael Jelenic</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

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

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1997</td><td>Jenny</td><td>17 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>1998</td><td>Living in Captivity</td><td>8 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>2000</td><td>Level 9</td><td>13 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>2001</td><td>The Education of Max Bickford</td><td>22 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Frank Herbert's Children of Dune</td><td>3 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>Star Trek: Enterprise</td><td>Episodes "Canamar" and "Regeneration"</td></tr><tr><td>2007</td><td>Fear Itself</td><td>Episode: "The Sacrifice"</td></tr><tr><td>2010–20</td><td>Hawaii Five-0</td><td>155 episodes Composed with Keith Power</td></tr><tr><td>2010–13</td><td>Transformers: Prime</td><td>65 episodes Composed with Matthew Margeson Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Terra Nova</td><td>13 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>2013–17</td><td>Sleepy Hollow</td><td>36 episodes Composed with Robert Lydecker Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music</td></tr><tr><td>2014–18</td><td>Scorpion</td><td>66 episodes Composed with Tony Morales</td></tr><tr><td>2018–24</td><td>Yellowstone</td><td>47 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Swamp Thing</td><td>10 episodes</td></tr><tr><td>2021–22</td><td>1883</td><td>10 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian</td></tr><tr><td>2022–present</td><td>1923</td><td>8 episodes Composed with Breton Vivian</td></tr></tbody></table>

Video games

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2010</td><td>Lego Universe</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Need for Speed: The Run</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>2012</td><td>Far Cry 3</td><td>Nominated- BAFTA Games Award for Best Audio Achievement</td></tr><tr><td>2013</td><td>Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel</td><td>—N/a</td></tr><tr><td>Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag</td><td>Nominated- BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Music</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>F1 2018</td><td>Composed the theme song for Formula One</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Lost Ark</td><td>Composed track "Bon Voyage"; Main score composed by Yong Kim</td></tr><tr><td>F1 2019</td><td>Composed the theme song for Formula One</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>PUBG Mobile / Game for Peace (Peacekeeper Elite)</td><td>Composed track "Meteor Crisis" for the Chinese version</td></tr><tr><td>F1 2020</td><td>Composed the theme song for Formula One</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>F1 2021</td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>F1 22</td></tr><tr><td>F1 Manager 2022</td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>F1 23</td></tr><tr><td>F1 Manager 2023</td></tr></tbody></table>

Awards and nominations

Brian Tyler

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Award</th><th>Nominated work</th><th>Result</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2002</td><td>Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special</td><td>Last Call</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Score</td><td>Frailty</td><td>Won</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2004</td><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td><td>The Final Cut</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2009</td><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Film Composer of the Year</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2009</td><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film</td><td>The Killing Room</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media</td><td>Lego Universe</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition</td><td>Transformers: Prime</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media</td><td>Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2013</td><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Film Composer of the Year</td><td>—N/a</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media</td><td>Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>International Film Music Critics Award for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film</td><td>Iron Man 3</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2014</td><td>Saturn Award for Best Music</td><td>Iron Man 3</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Saturn Award for Best Music</td><td>Now You See Me</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music</td><td>Sleepy Hollow</td><td>Nominated</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)</td><td>1883: 1883</td><td>Nominated</td></tr></tbody></table>