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Winners of Golden Globes for Best Original Score: all the winning and nominated soundtracks from history

All the winners and nominated film scores from the history of the Golden Globes

Published: January 9, 2024 at 10:24 am

The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score has been presented annually since the awards were first launched in 1947. As is also the case with the BAFTAs and Oscars, John Williams has received the most nominations in the category of Best Original Score. Other composers to have won multiple times include Dimitri Tiomkin, Justin Hurwitz, Maurice Jarre, Alan Menken, Ennio Morricone and Hans Zimmer.

When do the Golden Globes take place?

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony is usually held every January, one of the first major film awards in the industry. Each awards ceremony corresponds to films released the year before, from the January to December.

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2023

Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)

2023 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Boy and the Heron (Joe Hisaishi)
  • Killers of the Flower Moon (Robert Robertson)
  • Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)
  • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Daniel Pemberton)
  • The Zone of Interest (Mica Levi)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2022

Babylon (Justin Hurwitz)

2022 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Banshees of Inisherin (Carter Burwell)
  • The Fabelmans (John Williams)
  • Guillermo del Toro's Pinnochio (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Women Talking (Hildur Guðnadóttir)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2021

Dune (Hans Zimmer)

2021 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The French Dispatch (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Encanto (Germaine Franco)
  • The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)
  • Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2020

Soul (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)

2020 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Mank (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
  • The Midnight Sky (Alexandre Desplat)
  • News of the World (James Newton Howard)
  • Tenet (Ludwig Göransson)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2019

Joker (Hildur Guðnadóttir)

Nominees:

  • 1917 (Thomas Newman)
  • Little Women (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Marriage Story (Randy Newman)
  • Motherless Brooklyn (Daniel Pemberton)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2019

First Man (Justin Hurwitz)

2019 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Black Panther (Ludwig Göransson)
  • Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)
  • A Quiet Place (Marco Beltrami)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2018

The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)

2018 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Dunkirk (Hans Zimmer)
  • Phantom Thread (Jonny Greenwood)
  • The Post (John Williams)
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Carter Burwell)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2017

La La Land (Justin Hurwitz)

2017 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Arrival (Jóhann Jóhannsson)
  • Hidden Figures (Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch)
  • Lion (Dustin O'Halloran, Hauschka)
  • Moonlight (Nicholas Britell)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2016

The Hateful Eight (Ennio Morricone)

2015 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Carol (Carter Burwell)
  • The Danish Girl (Alexandre Desplat)
  • The Revenant (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto)
  • Steve Jobs (Daniel Pemberton)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2015

The Theory of Everything (Jóhann Jóhannsson)

2015 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Birdman (Antonio Sánchez)
  • Gone Girl (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
  • The Imitation Game (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Interstellar (Hans Zimmer)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2014

All is Lost (Alex Ebert)

2014 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • 12 Years a Slave (Hans Zimmer)
  • The Book Thief (John Williams)
  • Gravity (Steven Price)
  • Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (Alex Heffes)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2013

Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)

2013 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Anna Karenina (Dario Marianelli)
  • Argo (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Lincoln (John Williams)
  • Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2012

The Artist (Ludovic Bource)

2012 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
  • Hugo (Howard Shore)
  • War Horse (John Williams)
  • W.E. (Abel Korzeniowski)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2011

The Social Network (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)

2011 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • 127 Hours (AR Rahman)
  • Alice in Wonderland (Danny Elfman)
  • Inception (Hans Zimmer)
  • The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2010

Up (Michael Giacchino)

2010 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • A Single Man (Abel Korzeniowski)
  • Avatar (James Horner)
  • The Informant! (Marvin Hamlisch)
  • Where the Wild Things Are (Karen O, Carter Burwell)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2009

Slumdog Millionaire (AR Rahman)

2009 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Changeling (Clint Eastwood)
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Alexandre Desplat)
  • Defiance (James Newton Howard)
  • Frost/Nixon (Hans Zimmer)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2008

Atonement (Dario Marianelli)

2008 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Eastern Promises (Howard Shore)
  • Grace is Gone (Clint Eastwood)
  • Into the Wild (Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder)
  • The Kite Runner (Alberto Iglesias)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2007

The Painted Veil (Alexandre Desplat)

2007 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla)
  • The Da Vinci Code (Hans Zimmer)
  • The Fountain (Clint Mansell)
  • Nomad (Carlo Siliotto)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2006

Memoirs of a Geisha (John Williams)

2006 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Brokeback Mountain (Gustavo Santaolalla)
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Harry Gregson-Williams)
  • King Kong (James Newton Howard)
  • Syriana (Alexandre Desplat)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2005

The Aviator (Howard Shore)

2005 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Finding Neverland (Jan AP Kaczmarek)
  • Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
  • Sideways (Rolfe Kent)
  • Spanglish (Hans Zimmer)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2004

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Howard Shore)

2004 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Big Fish (Danny Elfman)
  • Cold Mountain (Gabriel Yared)
  • Girl with a Pearl Earring (Alexandre Desplat)
  • The Last Samurai (Hans Zimmer)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2003

Frida (Elliot Goldenthal)

2003 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • 25th Hour (Terence Blanchard)
  • Far from Heaven (Elmer Bernstein)
  • The Hours (Philip Glass)
  • Rabbit-Proof Fence (Peter Gabriel)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2002

Moulin Rouge! (Craig Armstrong)

2002 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • A Beautiful Mind (James Horner)
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence (John Williams)
  • Ali (Pieter Bourke, Lisa Gerrard)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Howard Shore)
  • Mulholland Drive (Angelo Badalamenti)
  • Pearl Harbor (Hans Zimmer)
  • The Shipping News (Christoper Young)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2001

Gladiator (Lisa Gerrard, Hans Zimmer)

2001 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • All the Pretty Horses (Larry Paxton, Marty Stuart, Kristin Wilkinson)
  • Chocolat (Rachel Portman) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)
  • Malèna (Ennio Morricone)
  • Sunshine (Maurice Jarre)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 2000

The Legend of 1900 (Ennio Morricone)

2000 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
  • Angela's Ashes (John Williams)
  • Anna and the King (George Fenton)
  • The End of the Affair (Michael Nyman)
  • Eyes Wide Shut (Jocelyn Pook)
  • The Insider (Pieter Bourke, Lisa Gerrard)
  • The Straight Story (Angelo Badalamenti)
  • The Talented Mr Ripley (Gabriel Yared)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1999

The Truman Show (Philip Glass, Burkhard Dallwitz)

1999 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • A Bug's Life (Randy Newman)
  • Mulan (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • The Prince of Egypt (Hans Zimmer)
  • Saving Private Ryan (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1998

Titanic (James Horner)

1998 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Gattaca (Michael Nyman)
  • Kundun (Philip Glass)
  • L.A. Confidential (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • Seven Years in Tibet (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1997

The English Patient (Gabriel Yared)

1997 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Alan Menken)
  • Michael Collins (Elliot Goldenthal)
  • The Mirror Has Two Faces (Marvin Hamlisch)
  • Shine (David Hirschfelder)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1996

A Walk in the Clouds (Maurice Jarre)

1996:

  • Braveheart (James Horner)
  • Don Juan DeMarco (Michael Kamen)
  • Pocahontas (Alan Menken)
  • Sense and Sensibility (Patrick Doyle)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1995

The Lion King (Hans Zimmer)

1995 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Forrest Gump (Alan Silvestri)
  • Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles) (Elliot Goldenthal)
  • Legends of the Fall (James Horner)
  • Nell (Mark Isham)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1994

Heaven & Earth (Kitarô)

1994 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Nightmare Before Christmas (Danny Elfman)
  • The Piano (Michael Nyman)
  • Schindler's List (John Williams)
  • Three Colours: Blue (Zbigniew Preisner)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1993

Aladdin (Alan Menken)

1993 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Vangelis Papathanassiou)
  • Basic Instinct (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • Chaplin (John Barry)
  • The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones, Randy Edelman)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1992

Beauty and the Beast (Alan Menken)

1992 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • At Play in the Fields of the Lord (Zbigniew Preisner)
  • Bugsy (Ennio Morricone)
  • Dead Again (Patrick Doyle)
  • For the Boys (Dave Grusin)
  • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Michael Kamen)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1991

The Sheltering Sky (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Richard Horowitz)

1991 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Avalon (Randy Newman)
  • Dances with Wolves (John Barry)
  • The Godfather, Part III (Carmine Coppola)
  • Havana (Dave Grusin)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1990

The Little Mermaid (Alan Menken)

1990 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Born on the Fourth of July (John Williams)
  • Casualties of War (Ennio Morricone)
  • The Fabulous Baker Boys (Dave Grusin)
  • Glory (James Horner)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1989

Gorillas in the Mist: The Adventure of Dian Fossey (Maurice Jarre)

1989 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Accidental Tourist (John Williams)
  • The Last Temptation of Christ (Peter Gabriel)
  • Madame Sousatzka (Gerald Gouriet)
  • The Milagro Beanfield War (Dave Grusin)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1988

The Last Emperor (Cong Su, Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne)

1988 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Cry Freedom (George Fenton)
  • Empire of the Sun (John Williams)
  • The Glass Menagerie (Henry Mancini)
  • The Untouchables (Ennio Morricone)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1987

The Mission (Ennio Morricone)

1987 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Little Shop of Horrors (Miles Goodman)
  • The Mosquito Coast (Maurice Jarre)
  • 'Round Midnight (Herbie Hancock)
  • Top Gun (Harold Faltermeyer)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1986

Out of Africa (John Barry)

1986:

  • The Color Purple (Quincy Jones)
  • White Nights (Michel Colombier)
  • Witness (Maurice Jarre)
  • Year of the Dragon (David Mansfield)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1985

A Passage to India (Maurice Jarre)

1985 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • John Carpenter's Starman (Jack Nitzsche)
  • The Killing Fields (Mike Oldfield)
  • Once Upon a Time in America (Ennio Morricone)
  • The River (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1984

Flashdance (Giorgio Moroder)

1984 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Rumble Fish (Stewart Copeland)
  • Scarface (Giorgio Moroder)
  • Under Fire (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • Yentl (Michel Legrand)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1983

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (John Williams)

1983 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Blade Runner (Vangelis Papathanassiou)
  • Cat People (Giorgio Moroder)
  • Six Weeks (Dudley Moore)
  • Victor Victoria (Henry Mancini)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1982

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1981

The Stunt Man (Dominic Frontiere)

1981 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • American Gigolo (Giorgio Moroder)
  • The Competition (Lalo Schifrin)
  • Fame (Michael Gore)
  • Somewhere in Time (John Barry)
  • Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1980

Apocalypse Now (Carmine Coppola)

1980 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • 10 (Henry Mancini)
  • A Little Romance (Georges Delerue)
  • Alien (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • The Amityville Horror (Lalo Schifrin)
  • The Black Stallion (Carmine Coppola)
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1979

Midnight Express (Giorgio Moroder)

1979 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • An Unmarried Woman (Bill Conti)
  • The Children of Sanchez (Chuck Mangione)
  • The Lord of the Rings (Leonard Rosenman) Superman (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1978

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (John Williams)

1978 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind (John Williams)
  • Pete's Dragon (Joel Hirschhorn)
  • Saturday Night Fever (Barry Gibb)
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (Marvin Hamlisch)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1977

A Star is Born (Kenny Ascher, Paul Williams)

1977 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Bugsy Malone (Paul Williams)
  • Rocky (Bill Conti)
  • The Slipper and The Rose - The Story of Cinderella (Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman)
  • Voyage of the Damned (Lalo Schifrin)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1976

Jaws (John Williams)

1976 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Funny Lady (John Kander, Fred Ebb)
  • The Man Who Would Be King (Maurice Jarre)
  • The Other Side of the Mountain (Charles Fox)
  • The Return of the Pink Panther (Henry Mancini)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1975

The Little Prince (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner)

1975 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • Earthquake (John Williams)
  • The Godfather, Part II (Carmine Coppola)
  • Phantom of the Paradise (Paul Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1974

Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Neil Diamond)

1974 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Breezy (Michel Legrand)
  • Cinderella Liberty (John Williams)
  • The Day of the Dolphin (Georges Delerue)
  • O Lucky Man! (Alan Price)
  • Tom Sawyer (Richard M. Sherman)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1973

The Godfather (Nino Rota)

1973 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Frenzy (Ron Goodwin)
  • The Getaway (Quincy Jones)
  • Lady Sings the Blues (Michel Legrand)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (John Williams)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1972

Shaft (Isaac Hayes)

1972 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Andromeda Strain (Gil Melle)
  • Le Mans (Michel Legrand)
  • Mary, Queen of Scots (John Barry)
  • Summer of '42 (Michel Legrand)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1971

Love Story (Francis Lai)

1971 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Airport (Alfred Newman)
  • Cromwell (Frank Cordell)
  • Scrooge (Leslie Bricusse)
  • Wuthering Heights (Michel Legrand)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1970

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (Burt Bacharach)

1970 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Anne of the Thousand Days (Georges Delerue)
  • Goodbye, Mr Chips (Leslie Bricusse)
  • The Happy Ending (Michel Legrand)
  • The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Ernest Gold)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1969

The Shoes of the Fisherman (Alex North)

1969 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Robert B. Sherman, Richard M. Sherman)
  • The Lion in Winter (John Barry)
  • Oliver! (Lionel Bart)
  • Romeo and Juliet (Nino Rota)
  • Rosemary's Baby (Christopher Komeda)
  • The Thomas Crown Affair (Michel Legrand)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1968

Camelot (Frederick Loewe)

1968 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Doctor Dolittle (Leslie Bricusse)
  • Live for Life (Francis Lai)
  • Thoroughly Modern Millie (Elmer Bernstein)
  • Two for the Road (Henry Mancini)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1967

Hawaii (Elmer Bernstein)

1967 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Bible: In the Beginning (Toshirô Mayuzumi)
  • Is Paris Burning? (Maurice Jarre)
  • A Man and a Woman (Francis Lai)
  • The Sand Pebbles (Jerry Goldsmith)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1966

Doctor Zhivago (Maurice Jarre)

1966 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Battle of the Bulge (Benjamin Frankel)
  • The Great Race (Henry Mancini)
  • The Sandpiper (Johnny Mandel)
  • The Yellow Rolls-Royce (Riz Ortolani)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1965

The Fall of the Roman Empire (Dimitri Tiomkin)

1965 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Becket (Laurence Rosenthal)
  • Mary Poppins (Richard M. Sherman)
  • Seven Days in May (Jerry Goldsmith)
  • Zorba the Greek (Mikis Theodorakis)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1964

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1963

To Kill A Mockingbird (Elmer Bernstein)

1963 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Lawrence of Arabia (Maurice Jarre)
  • Meredith Willson's The Music Man (Meredith Willson)
  • Mutiny on the Bounty (Bronislau Kaper)
  • Taras Bulba (Franz Waxman)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1962

The Guns of Navarone (Dimitri Tiomkin)

1962 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • El Cid (Miklos Rozsa)
  • Fanny (Harold Rome)
  • King of Kings (Miklos Rozsa)
  • Summer and Smoke (Elmer Bernstein)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1961

The Alamo (Dimitri Tiomkin)

1961 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Exodus (Ernest Gold)
  • Pepe (Johnny Green)
  • Spartacus (Alex North)
  • The World of Suzie Wong (George Duning)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1960

On the Beach (Ernest Gold)

1960 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

None

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1959

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1958

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1957

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1956

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1955

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1954

No award given

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1953

High Noon (Dimitri Tiomkin)

1953 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • Ivanhoe (Miklos Rozsa)
  • The Quiet Man (Victor Young)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1952

September Affair (Victor Young)

1952 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • The Day The Earth Stood Still (Bernard Herrmann)
  • The Well (Dmitri Tiomkin)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1951

Sunset Boulevard (Franz Waxman)

1951 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • A Life of Her Own (Bronislau Kaper)
  • Destination Moon (Leith Stevens)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1950

The Inspector General (Johnny Green)

1950 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

  • All The King's Men (George Duning)

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1949

The Red Shoes (Brian Easdale)

1949 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

None

Best Original Score Golden Globe winner in 1948

Life with Father (Max Steiner)

1948 Golden Globe nominees for Best Original Score:

None

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