Jóhann Jóhannsson dies aged 48
It is with great sadness that we report the untimely passing of Icelandic musician and film composer Jóhann Jóhannsson at the age of 48. Jóhann came of age musically in the Reykjavík indie scene of the 1990s and 2000s, where he contributed to a great many Icelandic bands, including Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, HAM, Lhooq, Apparat Organ Quartet, and the Kitchen Motors collective.
He contributed to many Icelandic films and TV shows; the latest being Trapped but his work also includes The Icelandic Dream, Dis, Thicker Than Water, Glacier Man, 16 Years till Summer, The Pitch: A Sports Arena With a Soul, Black Angels, Wrestling, Straight Out: Stories from Iceland, A Man Like Me, ERRÓ - North -South - East - West, Plan B and Corpus Camera.
His later solo work, which often combines electronic music and classical orchestration, brought him a larger, more global following.
Jóhann's reputation as a film composer was only growing. His film scores include Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival for director Denis Villeneuve, The Theory of Everything for James Marsh, and the upcoming Mandy, The Mercy, and Mary Magdalene. He won the Golden Globe for The Theory of Everything and was a two-time Academy Award nominee (for The Theory of Everything and Sicario).
Jóhann is survived by his parents, his three sisters, and his daughter.
Jóhann, and the life and music he had ahead of him, will be sorely missed.