Michael Kamen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michael Kamen
Kamen in 1993
Background information
Birth name	Michael Arnold Kamen
Born	(1948-04-15)April 15, 1948 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 18, 2003(2003-11-18) (aged 55) London, England
Genres	Film score, rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Composer, orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, session musician
Instruments	Oboe piano
Years active	1967–2003

Michael Arnold Kamen (born April 15, 1948 – died November 18, 2003) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, songwriter, and session musician. He was especially famous for creating music for movies, known as film scores.

Who Was Michael Kamen?

Michael Arnold Kamen was born in New York City. He was one of four sons. His father was a dentist and his mother was a teacher.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

While attending the High School of Music & Art in New York City, Michael Kamen became friends with Martin Fulterman, who later became known as Mark Snow. Snow composed the famous theme music for The X-Files.

Michael Kamen studied the oboe, a musical instrument. He formed a band called New York Rock & Roll Ensemble. This group mixed rock music with classical music. They released five albums between 1968 and 1972. The band members even performed in formal white tie outfits, like classical musicians. They often played an oboe duet during their concerts.

After high school, Kamen went to The Juilliard School, a famous music school in New York City.

Kamen's early work was mostly for ballets, which are dance performances with music. Later, he started working in Hollywood to create music for films. His first movie score was for The Next Man in 1976. He also began arranging music for pop and rock artists, including working with Pink Floyd on their album The Wall.

Working with Music Stars

Michael Kamen became a very popular arranger for pop and rock music. An arranger helps decide which instruments play which parts in a song. He worked with many famous artists, including:

• Pink Floyd
• David Gilmour
• Roger Waters
• Queen (he helped with the song "Who Wants to Live Forever")
• Eric Clapton
• Aerosmith (he arranged an orchestral version of "Dream On" for MTV)
• Metallica (he worked on "Nothing Else Matters" and their live album S&M)
• Bryan Adams
• David Bowie
• Eurythmics
• Kate Bush

In 1990, Kamen joined many other musicians for Roger Waters' performance of The Wall in Berlin. He also conducted the National Philharmonic Orchestra for Eric Clapton's "24 Nights" concerts.

Michael Kamen had a very successful partnership with Bryan Adams and "Mutt" Lange. They wrote popular songs for movies, such as:

• "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" for the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. This song was number one around the world!
• "All for Love" for The Three Musketeers in 1993.
• "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" for the film Don Juan DeMarco in 1994.

In 2002, Kamen was the strings conductor for the Concert for George, a tribute concert for George Harrison.

Music for Movies and TV

Michael Kamen wrote music for many films and TV shows. He also composed eleven ballets and concertos for saxophone and electric guitar. A concerto is a piece of music for a solo instrument and an orchestra.

Some of his well-known film scores include:

• Brazil
• Highlander
• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
• Licence to Kill (a James Bond movie)
• The Lethal Weapon series
• The first three Die Hard films
• Mr. Holland's Opus
• The Iron Giant (his first animated movie score)
• X-Men
• Frequency

For television, he composed music for the BBC series Edge of Darkness in 1985. He worked with Eric Clapton on this score, and they won an award for it.

Kamen was nominated for two Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars). He won many other awards, including three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Emmy.

Helping Others Through Music

Michael Kamen was involved with the film Mr. Holland's Opus, which is about a music teacher. This inspired him to create The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation in 1996. This foundation helps music education by giving new and fixed musical instruments to schools and music programs that need them. They also help individual students in the United States.

His Final Years

In 1999, Michael Kamen worked with the heavy metal band Metallica and The San Francisco Symphony. They performed two concerts together, which were released as the album S&M. This album was very popular and won a Grammy Award.

In 2001 and 2002, Kamen performed with David Gilmour (from Pink Floyd) at his concerts, playing piano and cor anglais.

In 2002, Kamen helped launch the Music Education Consortium in the UK. This group worked to get more money for music education in the UK. He also wrote a piece of music for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

His last recorded work was on Bryan Adams's album Room Service. He also completed music for two songs on Kate Bush's album Aerial, which was released after his death.

Remembering Michael Kamen

Michael Kamen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997. He passed away in London, England, from a heart attack on November 18, 2003, when he was 55 years old.

Many people remembered Michael Kamen after his death.

• In 2004, when Annie Lennox won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West" (from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), she dedicated her award to his memory.
• The 2004 films Boo, Zino & the Snurks and First Daughter, which he was working on, were dedicated to him.
• David Gilmour's 2006 album On an Island was also dedicated to Michael Kamen.

Michael Kamen's Works

Film Scores

Concert Music

• Concerto for Saxophone (1990)
• 24 Nights (1991)
• Live in Hyde Park (1997)
• Guitar Concerto (with Tomoyasu Hotei) (1998)
• S&M (1999) with Metallica
• The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms (2001)
• Quintet (Canadian Brass) (2002)

See also

In Spanish: Michael Kamen para niños