Greg O'Connor

Gregory Joseph O'Connor (born May 27, 1967) is an American composer and songwriter. He has composed scores for over 30 television series and has written numerous featured songs for television, films, and commercials. He is a Primetime Emmy winner and a four-time Emmy nominee. He has scored projects including variety, single-camera comedy, multi-camera comedy, animation, one-hour drama, game show, sketch comedy, award show, stand-up, reality, hidden camera, documentary, and virtual reality.

Early life O'Connor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Music, as well as the "Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television" program at USC. He began studying music at age six, taking piano lessons at the Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He also played alto saxophone for eight years. His education included performing in various ensembles as a pianist, saxophonist, or vocalist, including concert band, jazz band, glee club, and various top 40 bands throughout high school and college.

Career

1990s Early in his career, O'Connor scored the Emmy Award-winning Ben Stiller Show and The Sunday Comics on FOX.

Chicago In 1993, O'Connor co-wrote the song "Here with Me (A Candle in the Dark)" for the Chicago album Stone of Sisyphus, which was unreleased until 2008. He has written and produced other songs for Chicago, including “Firecracker” and “Someone Needed Me the Most” from their 2022 album Born for this Moment. He also co-wrote the songs "The Only One" and “Show Me a Sign" with James Pankow from their 1997 and 1998 compilation albums The Heart of Chicago 1967–1997 and The Heart of Chicago 1967–1998 Volume II. Both songs reached the top 20 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

MADtv In 1995, O'Connor became the musical director and composer for all 15 seasons of the sketch comedy show MADtv, produced by David Salzman and Quincy Jones. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award as a composer for MADtv, and won in 2006 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. The songs that were nominated include "Sad Fitty Cent," co-written with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele. He also won a BMI Film and TV Award for his work on the show in 2007. He would go on to work with MADtv cast members on their own projects, including Will Sasso’s Ten Minute Podcast and Frank Caliendo's The Caliendo Cast. He also composed songs for Emmy-winning actress Alex Borstein.

2000s In 2002, O'Connor composed the underscore for all three seasons of the hidden camera series The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, as well as for the cop drama 10-8: Officers on Duty in 2003, starring Ernie Hudson and Danny Nucci. He was the musical director and composer for the ABC reality competition series The Next Best Thing, which aired for one season in 2007. O'Connor co-produced and arranged the song "Christmas Is Just Around the Corner" from Barry Manilow's 2007 album In the Swing of Christmas. He also co-produced five songs on Manilow's album The Greatest Songs of the Eighties in 2008. That same year, he wrote and produced three featured songs for Lori Petty’s directorial feature film debut, The Poker House. He also composed music for award-winning comedian David Alan Grier's Chocolate News. thumb

2010s In 2010, O'Connor composed, produced, and sang two songs for the animated film LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers. In 2011, he wrote and produced two songs for the film The Greening of Whitney Brown, starring Kris Kristofferson, Aidan Quinn, and Brooke Shields, one of which was performed by Shields. In 2012, he produced and composed songs for the Lionsgate animated film Foodfight! He also produced two songs for Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy, performed by Kimberley Locke on the soundtrack of the 2008 film Camille. In 2016, he composed the opening theme songs for the ABC series Greatest Hits, produced by Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich. He also composed the theme song for the series Gay Skit Happens, with two members of Pentatonix. In 2019, he scored the TV short Defrost: The Virtual Series, directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Bruce Davison, Harry Hamlin, and Tanna Frederick.

2020s In 2020, O'Connor wrote the featured “Laura Dern” song for the 35th Film Independent Spirit Awards, which instantly went viral and was featured in many major publications and news outlets. He also composed the main title theme for the Disney+ series Prop Culture. He also composed the company logo music for Kasanoff's Threshold Entertainment, as well as for Academy Awards producer Rob Paine's House of Paine Entertainment.

Notable credits

Awards