Ludwig Göransson

Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish musician, composer, and record producer. Based in the United States, he is often regarded as one of the most successful composers in Hollywood of the 21st century. For his work in music, film and television, he has received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and six Grammy Awards.

As a record producer, he has frequently collaborated with Childish Gambino, producing his studio albums Camp (2011), Because the Internet (2013) and "Awaken, My Love!" (2016), among others. Göransson's producing work on Gambino's 2018 single "This Is America" was met with acclaim and accolades, including two Grammy Awards (for Record of the Year and Song of the Year). He has also produced for other recording artists, such as Adele, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Chance the Rapper, Haim, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and Moses Sumney.

For television, he received his first break as a composer for the NBC comedy series Community (2009–2015), followed by the Fox comedy series New Girl (2011–2018). Göransson transitioned into dramatic work, scoring the Disney+ series The Mandalorian (2019–2020), which earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score). He also composed the main theme for The Book of Boba Fett (2021–2022).

For his work in film, he is primarily known for his work with his longtime friend Ryan Coogler, scoring all his films, and Christopher Nolan. He has earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score three times, for Coogler's superhero film Black Panther (2018), Nolan's biopic Oppenheimer (2023) and Coogler's horror film Sinners (2025). He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna featured in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and for "I Lied to You" from Sinners. Aside from his collaborations with Coogler and Nolan, his other prominent scores include the superhero film Venom (2018), the Pixar film Turning Red (2022), and the Mandalorian follow-up film The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026).

Early life and education Göransson was born and raised in Linköping, Östergötland. His mother Maria, a florist, is from Warsaw, Poland, and his father Tomas, a guitar teacher, is Swedish. He has an older sister named Jessika. He is named after Ludwig van Beethoven. It was there that Ludwig met Ryan Coogler, with whom Ludwig collaborated on numerous projects. Overall, his work with Gambino earned him six Grammy Award nominations. In 2012, Göransson produced Haim's debut EP and helped establish the band with a new sound on the song "Forever". He also produced two songs on the band's debut album Days Are Gone.

In 2013, Göransson's first feature film came from fellow USC graduate Ryan Coogler. Göransson composed the score to Coogler's critically acclaimed drama Fruitvale Station, based on the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant. The film won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience awards in the Dramatic category at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, also taking home the Avenir Prize and Un Certain Regard awards at the Cannes Film Festival. In August 2013, Göransson signed a management deal as a composer for Jay-Z's label, Roc Nation. Göransson set out to create a score that would sit somewhere between traditional African instrumentation and a traditional superhero score. In order to do this he travelled 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 traveled to the International Library of African Music in South Africa, founded by Hugh Tracey, where he listened to recordings of traditional musicians to ensure the score had a culturally traditional sound. In 2019, Göransson's score for Black Panther won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

On 5 May 2018, "This Is America" was released. Produced by Gambino and Ludwig Göransson, the song features a gospel-style choir and background contributions from various American rappers Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi, BlocBoy JB, 21 Savage, Quavo and Offset. "This Is America" debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 31st song to do so in the chart's history. The song won in all four of its nominated categories at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Music Video.

On 22 May 2019, it was announced that Göransson was composing the film score for Christopher Nolan's Tenet. Göransson was chosen after Nolan's frequent collaborator and first choice, Hans Zimmer, turned down the offer in favor of the 2021 film Dune. Göransson experimented with retrograde composition and sampling to match the themes and tone of the film. The first scoring session was held in November 2019, and sessions continued into early 2020. He worked on original songs and music with Justin Timberlake for the 2020 film Trolls World Tour. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for both season 1 and season 2's finales. In 2021, he started scoring sessions for The Mandalorians spinoff series, The Book of Boba Fett, which premiered on 29 December 2021. In 2021, he was chosen to be the composer of the new fanfare for Warner Bros. Pictures, which combines a new arrangement of "As Time Goes By" with elements of the original Max Steiner fanfare. In 2022, he worked on the scores of the Pixar film Turning Red and the second Black Panther installment, Wakanda Forever. For the latter, he co-wrote the song "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

2023–present: Further Coogler, Nolan, and Star Wars collaborations He worked for a second time with Christopher Nolan on his 2023 film Oppenheimer. Its accompanying soundtrack received critical acclaim and earned Göransson the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

In 2024, he composed the Disney+ mnemonic as part of the streaming service's rebrand.

For his work on Ryan Coogler's Sinners, he earned his third Oscar win at the 98th Academy Awards. The soundtrack, which he based on his experience with American blues music, was also inspired by his father's love of the genre.

In 2026, Göransson composed two major film scores. He returned for the theatrical follow-up to The Mandalorian, The Mandalorian and Grogu. He reunited with Nolan for The Odyssey.

Personal life Göransson married American violinist Serena McKinney in 2018. They have two sons.

Filmography As a composer'''

Films Year Title Director(s) Notes 2011 30 Minutes or Less Ruben Fleischer 2013 Fruitvale Station Ryan Coogler First collaboration with Coogler We're the Millers Rawson Marshall Thurber 2014 Stretch Joe Carnahan The Town That Dreaded Sundown Alfonso Gomez-Rejon A Merry Friggin' Christmas Tristram Shapeero Top Five Chris Rock 2015 Creed Ryan Coogler Second collaboration with Coogler 2016 Central Intelligence Rawson Marshall Thurber True Memoirs of an International Assassin Jeff Wadlow 2017 Everything, Everything Stella Meghie 2018 Black Panther Ryan Coogler Third collaboration with Coogler Death Wish Eli Roth Slice Austin Vesely Venom Ruben Fleischer Creed II Steven Caple Jr. 2020 Tenet Christopher Nolan First collaboration with Nolan 2021 Bad Trip Kitao Sakurai 2022 Turning Red Domee Shi First score for an animated film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Ryan Coogler Fourth collaboration with Coogler 2023 Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan Second collaboration with Nolan 2025 Sinners Ryan Coogler Fifth collaboration with Coogler. Also executive producer 2026 The Mandalorian and Grogu Jon Favreau Third collaboration with Favreau, first in a feature film The Odyssey Christopher Nolan Third collaboration with Nolan

Television Year Title Showrunner(s) Network 2009–2015 Community Dan Harmon NBC (seasons 1–5)Yahoo! Screen (season 6) 2011–2013 Happy Endings David Caspe ABC 2011–2018 New Girl Elizabeth Meriwether Fox 2014–2015 Satisfaction Sean Jablonski USA Network 2016–2018 Angie Tribeca Steve CarellNancy Carell TBS 2017 Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King Hasan MinhajNetflix 2018–2020 Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Richard A. Preuss 2019–2020 The Mandalorian Jon Favreau Disney+ 2021–2022 The Book of Boba Fett

Discography

Awards and nominations

For The Mandalorian, Göransson earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for both season 1 and season 2's finales. In film, his score for Black Panther won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. He scored the second Black Panther film, 2022's Wakanda Forever, achieving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lift Me Up" performed by Rihanna. His work on Christopher Nolan's epic biopic Oppenheimer (2023) earned his first wins at the BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards, and a second win at the Academy Awards. For Sinners'', he won his third Academy Award.