Danny Elfman

Danny Elfman spent the early '80s as the lead singer and chief songwriter of Oingo Boingo, and in 1984 he stepped out on his own with So-Lo, a solo album that still sounds like the band's nervy new wave and ska with his name on the sleeve. "Gratitude" was the song from it that stuck, all jittery rhythm and Elfman's voice ricocheting around the arrangement.

Born in Los Angeles in 1953, he had a second career waiting that would dwarf the first. He scored his first studio film in 1985, and the list since then runs past 100 features: nearly 20 projects with Tim Burton, from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice to Batman, Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish; the songs and score for Henry Selick's The Nightmare Before Christmas; Sam Raimi's Darkman and Spider-Man films; Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting and Milk; and the Men in Black series. On TV he gave The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives their themes.

The trophies followed the scores: four Oscar nominations, three Emmys, a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 1990 and a Disney Legends honor in 2015. Listen closely and the manic energy of the Boingo days is still hiding in the orchestras.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.