The Atlantic

How Hans Zimmer Became a Rock Star

The composer of films like <em>Gladiator</em>, <em>Inception</em>, and <em>The Dark Knight</em> has become so ubiquitous, he’s playing at Coachella.
Source: Janos Marjai / MTI / AP

Like many other late-night hosts, Stephen Colbert introduces the musical acts that close out his show while holding their CD in his hands. His recent guests have included Japandroids, A$AP Mob, and Billy Joel, but Tuesday’s episode was a bit different: The album Colbert was promoting was the soundtrack to (the much-anticipated BBC America nature documentary series), and the act was the composer Hans Zimmer, jamming on the synthesizer as the orchestra behind him played the program’s theme music. For a film composer to appear on a talk show is practically unheard of. But this is Zimmer, who’s about to embark on a that will include performances at Coachella, the California music festival being headlined this year by Radiohead,

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