Ludwig Göransson
Göransson in 2018
Göransson in 2018
Background information
Born
Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson

(1984-09-01) 1 September 1984 (age 41)
Linköping, Sweden
Genres
  • Film score
  • big band
  • classical rock
  • disco
  • funk rock
  • jazz rock
  • R&B
  • soul
  • electronic rock
  • psychedelic rock
  • swing
  • hip-hop
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • record producer
  • conductor
  • songwriter
Years active 2008–present
Labels
  • Roc Nation[1]
  • Glassnote
  • Island
  • Interscope Records
Spouse
Serena Göransson
​
(m. 2018)​

Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (/ˈɡɔːrənsən/;[2] Swedish: [ˈlɵ̌dːvɪɡ ˈjœ̂ːranˌsɔn]; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish musician, composer, and record producer based in the United States. He is often regarded as one of the most successful composers in Hollywood of the 21st century.[3] For his work in music, film and television, he has won numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and six Grammy Awards.

As a record 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 2018 single "This Is America" was met with acclaim and accolades, including two Grammy Awards (for Record of the Year and Song of the Year). He has also produced for other recording artists, such as Adele, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Chance the Rapper, Haim, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Moses Sumney.

For television, he received his first break as a composer for the NBC comedy series Community (2009–2015), followed by the Fox comedy series New Girl (2011–2018). Göransson transitioned into dramatic work, scoring the Disney+ series The Mandalorian (2019–2020), which earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score). He also composed the main theme for The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022).

For his work in film, he has earned three Academy Awards for Best Original Score, for Ryan Coogler's superhero film Black Panther (2018), Christopher Nolan's biopic Oppenheimer (2023), and Coogler's horror film Sinners (2025). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna featured in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and for "I Lied to You" from Sinners. Göransson's other collaborations with Coogler include Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015) and Creed II (2018). He is also known for scoring Venom (2018), Tenet (2020), and Turning Red (2022).

Early life and education

Göransson was born and raised in Linköping. His mother Maria, a florist, is from Warsaw, Poland, and his father Tomas, a guitar teacher,[4][5] is Swedish. He has an older sister named Jessika.[6][7][8] 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.[9] It was there that Ludwig met Ryan Coogler, with whom Ludwig collaborated on numerous projects.[4]

Career

2008–2017: Community, "Awaken, My Love!", and Fruitvale Station

Göransson met Ryan Coogler at the University of South California (USC) where both were students.[4] He composed the score for the award-winning short film locks in 2009, which Coogler wrote and directed while at USC.[4] Soon after graduating from USC, Göransson began work assisting Theodore Shapiro, a composer known for films such as Along Came Polly, The Devil Wears Prada, Idiocracy, and Tropic Thunder. Göransson's first break came in 2009 as the composer for the sitcom Community.[5]

In 2010, when Donald Glover first approached Göransson about his side project, Childish Gambino, the two were working on the set of Community.[5] Since then they have released four albums: Camp, Because the Internet, "Awaken, My Love!", and 3.15.20. 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. They earned four Grammy nominations for their work on "Awaken, My Love!", including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Redbone".[10] Overall, his work with Gambino earned him six Grammy Award nominations.[citation needed] In 2012, Göransson produced Haim's debut EP and helped establish the band with a new sound on the song "Forever".[citation needed] He also produced two songs on the band's debut album Days Are Gone.[citation needed]

In 2013, Göransson's first feature film came from fellow 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. 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.[citation needed] In August 2013, Göransson signed a management deal as a composer for Jay-Z's label, Roc Nation.[11][6] That year he also composed the music for the movie We're the Millers.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

2018–2022: Black Panther, "This is America", and The Mandalorian

In 2018, Göransson and Coogler came together for their third collaboration, Black Panther.[12] 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, singing 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.[13] In 2019, Göransson's score for Black Panther won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.[14][15]

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.[16]

On 22 May 2019, it was announced that Göransson was composing the film score for Christopher Nolan's Tenet.[17] Göransson was chosen after Nolan's frequent collaborator and first choice, Hans Zimmer, turned down the offer in favor of the 2021 film Dune.[18][19] Göransson experimented with retrograde composition and sampling to match the themes and tone of the film. The first scoring session was held in November 2019, and sessions continued into early 2020.[20] He worked on original songs and music with Justin Timberlake for the 2020 film Trolls World Tour.[6]

Since 2019, Göransson has composed the score for the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, which is set in the Star Wars universe, as well as the fanfare for the franchise's brand logo.[6] He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for both season 1[21] and season 2's[22] finales. In 2021, he started scoring sessions for The Mandalorian's spinoff series, The Book of Boba Fett,[23] which premiered on 29 December 2021. In 2021, he was chosen to be the composer of the new fanfare for Warner Bros. Pictures, which combines a new arrangement of "As Time Goes By" with elements of the original Max Steiner fanfare.[citation needed] In 2022, he worked on the scores of the Pixar film Turning Red and the second Black Panther installment, Wakanda Forever. For the latter, he co-wrote the song "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.[24]

2023–present: Oppenheimer and Sinners

He worked for a second time with Christopher Nolan on his 2023 film Oppenheimer.[25] Its accompanying soundtrack received critical acclaim and earned Göransson the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and the Academy Award for Best Original Score.[26]

For his work on Ryan Coogler's Sinners, he earned his third Oscar win at the 98th Academy Awards a soundtrack which he based off of his experience with American' Blues music, inspired by his father's love of the genre.

Personal life

Göransson married American violinist Serena McKinney in 2018.[27] Their first child was born in 2019;[6] he has two sons.[28]

Filmography

Further information: Ludwig Göransson discography

As a composer

Key
† Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Films

Year Title Director(s) Notes Refs.
2011 30 Minutes or Less Ruben Fleischer
2013 Fruitvale Station Ryan Coogler FIrst collaboration with Coogler
We're the Millers Rawson Marshall Thurber
2014 Stretch Joe Carnahan
The Town That Dreaded Sundown Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
A Merry Friggin' Christmas Tristram Shapeero
Top Five Chris Rock
2015 Creed Ryan Coogler Second collaboration with Coogler
2016 Central Intelligence Rawson Marshall Thurber
True Memoirs of an International Assassin Jeff Wadlow
2017 Everything, Everything Stella Meghie
2018 Black Panther Ryan Coogler Third collaboration with Coogler
Death Wish Eli Roth
Slice Austin Vesely
Venom Ruben Fleischer
Creed II Steven Caple Jr.
2020 Tenet Christopher Nolan First collaboration with Nolan
2021 Bad Trip Kitao Sakurai
2022 Turning Red Domee Shi
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Ryan Coogler Fourth collaboration with Coogler
2023 Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan Second collaboration with Nolan
2025 Sinners Ryan Coogler Fifth collaboration with Coogler. Also executive producer [29]
2026 The Mandalorian and Grogu † Jon Favreau Third collaboration with Favreau, first in a feature film
The Odyssey † Christopher Nolan Third collaboration with Nolan

Television

Year Title Showrunner(s) Network Refs.
2009–2015 Community Dan Harmon NBC (seasons 1–5)
Yahoo! Screen (season 6)
2011–2013 Happy Endings David Caspe ABC
2011–2018 New Girl Elizabeth Meriwether Fox
2014–2015 Satisfaction Sean Jablonski USA Network
2016–2018 Angie Tribeca Steve Carell
Nancy Carell		 TBS
2017 Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King Hasan Minhaj Netflix
2018–2020 Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Richard A. Preuss
2019–2020 The Mandalorian Jon Favreau Disney+
2021–2022 The Book of Boba Fett

Discography

Further information: Ludwig Göransson discography

Awards and nominations

Further information: List of awards and nominations received by Ludwig Göransson

For The Mandalorian, Göransson earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for both season 1 and season 2's finales. In film, his score for Black Panther won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. He scored the second Black Panther film, 2022's Wakanda Forever, achieving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna. His work on Christopher Nolan's epic biopic Oppenheimer (2023) earned his first wins at the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards, and a second win at the Academy Awards. For Sinners, he won his third Academy Award.[30]

See also

  • Music of Star Wars
  • Music of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

References

  1. ^ "Ludwig Goransson". Roc Nation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  2. ^ The Making of 'Wakanda' with Ludwig Göransson | Presented by Marvel Studio's Black Panther (YouTube video). Genius. 11 February 2019. Event occurs at 1 minute and 45 seconds. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019. I called him and I was like: 'Hey, my name is Ludwig Göransson and I'm a film composer ...'
  3. ^ Mitchell, Matt (11 August 2023). "How Ludwig Göransson Became Hollywood's Best Composer". Paste. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d Betancourt, David (21 July 2023). "Ludwig Göransson on what inspired his music for 'Oppenheimer' and more". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Composer Ludwig Göransson On 'Oppenheimer'". NPR. 20 July 2023. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Marques (1 November 2019). "'Black Panther' composer Ludwig Göransson brings new sounds to 'Star Wars' series 'The Mandalorian'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  7. ^ Dove, Steve (25 February 2019). "LUDWIG GORANSSON WINS 2019 OSCAR FOR BLACK PANTHER SCORE". Oscars. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  8. ^ Greiving, Tim (11 November 2019). "How Ludwig Goransson Became Directors' Secret Musical Weapon". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Ludwig Göransson composes score for Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer"". USC Thornton School of Music. 21 July 2023. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  10. ^ Dandridge-Lemco, Ben (19 January 2018). "Producer Ludwig Göransson on helping create Awaken, My Love! and the Black Panther score". The Fader. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  11. ^ "ROCNATION | Ludwig Goransson". rocnation.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  12. ^ Pearce, Sheldon (7 February 2018). "How Black Panther Composer Ludwig Göransson Found the Sound of Wakanda | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  13. ^ Perry, Kevin (21 March 2018). "Baaba Maal on soundtracking Black Panther's Wakanda". NME. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  14. ^ Lovett, Jamie (10 February 2019). "'Black Panther' Wins Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media". Marvel. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  15. ^ Ehrlich, David (24 February 2019). "Ludwig Göransson Wins Best Original Score Oscar for 'Black Panther'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  16. ^ "All GRAMMY Awards and Nominations for Ludwig Göransson". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Ludwig Göransson to Score Christopher Nolan's Tenet | Film Music Reporter". Film Music Reporter. 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  18. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (23 May 2019). "Tenet: Title, cast and more details of new Christopher Nolan film revealed". The Independent. Retrieved 15 July 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  19. ^ Barfield, Charles (16 July 2019). "Hans Zimmer Explains Why He Chose "Dune" Over Christopher Nolan's Latest & Says He Never Saw The David Lynch 1984 Film". The Playlist. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Ludwig Göransson on TENET and the musical genius of Christopher Nolan". 6 August 2020. Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ "Emmys 2020: Ludwig Göransson Wins Outstanding Music Composition for The Mandalorian". Pitchfork. 20 September 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Outstanding Music Composition For A Series Original Dramatic Score Nominees / Winners 2021". Television Academy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  23. ^ Starkey, Adam (23 September 2021). "'The Mandalorian' composer Ludwig Göransson will return for spin-off 'The Book Of Boba Fett'". NME. Archived from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  24. ^ Tapp, Tom (24 January 2023). "Oscar Best Original Song: Rihanna Gets Her First Nomination For "Lift Me Up," Faces Stiff Competition From Lady Gaga, Diane Warren & More". Deadline. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  25. ^ Guy, Zoe (19 December 2022). "Christopher Nolan Is Going Nuclear With Oppenheimer". Vulture. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  26. ^ McPherson, Chris (18 February 2024). "'Oppenheimer' Scores Most Wins at 2024 BAFTAs". Collider. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  27. ^ Greiving, Tim (21 February 2019). "Composer Ludwig Göransson on 'Black Panther' Music, Childish Gambino and Danny Elfman". Variety. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  28. ^ "Ludwig Göransson's Oscars Red Carpet Interview with @AmeliaDimoldenberg | 96th Oscars Red Carpet". Retrieved 15 March 2024 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ Mayhem Mendes (17 April 2025). ""Sinners (2025) - Behind the Scenes"" – via YouTube.
  30. ^ Sherman, Maria (16 March 2026). "'Golden' from KPop Demon Hunters wins Oscar for best original song. Sinners wins best score". WRAL.com. Retrieved 16 March 2026.