Ludwig Göransson

• 1. Roots In Linköping

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  Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson arrived in the world on the 1st of September 1984. He grew up in Linköping, a city in southern Sweden. His mother Maria worked as a florist and came from Warsaw, Poland. His father Tomas taught guitar and was Swedish by birth. An older sister named Jessika shared his childhood home. The family named him after Ludwig van Beethoven. Music lessons began at a young age for the boy. He later graduated 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.

• 2. Comedy To Drama Shift

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  Göransson received his first major break in 2009 as the composer for the NBC comedy series Community. The show ran from 2009 through 2015. He also scored the Fox sitcom New Girl between 2011 and 2018. This work established his reputation in television scoring. He transitioned into dramatic work with Disney+ series The Mandalorian starting in 2019. The score earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. These awards covered both season one and season two finales. He composed the main theme for The Book of Boba Fett which premiered on the 29th of December 2021. The fanfare for Warner Bros. Pictures combined a new arrangement of As Time Goes By with elements of the original Max Steiner fanfare in 2021.

• 3. Collaboration With Coogler

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  His first feature film came from fellow USC graduate Ryan Coogler in 2013. Göransson composed the score to Coogler's critically acclaimed drama Fruitvale Station. The film was based on the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. In August 2013, Göransson signed a management deal as a composer for Jay-Z's label Roc Nation. They worked together again on the Rocky franchise film Creed by 2015. Their third collaboration arrived in 2018 with Black Panther. Göransson traveled 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 visited the International Library of African Music in South Africa founded by Hugh Tracey. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2019.

• 4. Production And Pop Culture

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  Donald Glover approached Göransson about his side project Childish Gambino in 2010 while they were working on Community. They released four albums including Camp Because the Internet Awaken My Love and 3.15.20. Göransson served as producer and writer for every song on Awaken My Love. This album drew inspiration from Parliament-Funkadelic and black power music of the seventies. On the 5th of May 2018 They released This Is America which debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It became the 31st song to top that chart in history. The track features a gospel-style choir and background contributions from rappers Young Thug Slim Jxmmi BlocBoy JB 21 Savage Quavo and Offset. The song won all four nominated categories at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. These wins included Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

• 5. Industry Recognition

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  Göransson has won several accolades across film television and music. He holds two Academy Awards for Best Original Score. One came for Black Panther in 2018 and another for Oppenheimer in 2023. Christopher Nolan directed the biopic Oppenheimer which earned him the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music. The soundtrack also received the Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. He won two Emmy Awards for his work on The Mandalorian. His record production earned him six Grammy Awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for This Is America. He also received two Golden Globe Awards. A nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song followed for Lift Me Up performed by Rihanna in Wakanda Forever.