James Bond Composer John Barry Dies, Aged 77

By Matt Holmes /

The BBC report that legendary, five time Oscar winning composer John Barry has passed away, aged 77. His heart gave out on him. His name is of course synonymous with the iconic, main James Bond theme which he orchestrated in the early 60's and although he lost a lawsuit that says he didn't write it to fellow composer Monty Norman, he always claimed he should have sole authorship of possibly the most famous film music of all time;All in all he composed 11 Bond films including From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice and his sound was so fundamental in the shaping of the tone of the character and his universe. I love in particular his From Russia With Love score which if you've ever played whilst driving, will fuel your imagination into thinking you are driving an Austin Martin in a high-speed chase from some SPECTRE agents. Barry also composed Midnight Run, Born Free, Out Of Africa and many others. Here's a selection of his music;

Goldfinger

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

You Only Live Twice

Born Free (Oscar Winning)

The Lion in the Winter (Oscar Winning)

Out of Africa (Oscar Winning)

Dances With Wolves (Oscar Winning)

Chaplin (Oscar Nominated)

* I had forgotten how good this music was*

Midnight Cowboy

Somewhere In Time

Enigma

*His final score, ten years ago*