John Barry

Not only is John Barry one of the greatest film composers to emerge from the 1960s (when he was also a pop star), he may be the first composer to achieve fame on the level of a Hollywood star. Forever linked to James Bond films and the swinging London of the '60s, Barry continues to be an excellent and diverse artist who excels at brooding melancholia and atmospheric jazz beyond the Austin Powers-style grooviness he's so often associated with. Besides winning numerous Academy Awards for scores to such movies as The Lion In Winter, Born Free and Dances With Wolves, he's developed a cult of female fans enraptured with his richly romantic scores to Out of Africa and, in particular, Somewhere in Time. Interestingly, Barry has said that he prefers these brooding pieces to the sweeping theme of Born Free, his most popular recording outside of the Bond theme (which was originally credited to another composer). Barry still makes modern classical and jazz music when he's not working on film scores.