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A Japanese composer working on the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony resigned on Monday over allegations of bullying his classmates in the past. Keigo Oyamada posted an apology on his Twitter and Facebook accounts after reports of his past abuse surfaced on social media. "I sincerely accept the opinions and advice I have received, express my gratitude, and will keep them in mind for my future actions and thoughts," Oyamada wrote. "I apologize from the bottom of my heart." Oyamada was accused of bullying classmates, including those with disabilities, and faced backlash and calls for his resignation on social media. He...

Ennio Morricone, the Italian composer who wrote the iconic theme tune to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, has died aged 91. His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, who said he died in a hospital in Rome early on Monday.

Johnny Mandel, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter of “The Shadow of Your Smile,” “Emily” and the theme from “MASH,” has died. He was 94. “I was so sad to learn that a hero of mine, Johnny Mandel, passed away,” wrote Michael Buble on Twitter. “He was a genius and one of my favorite writers, arrangers, and personalities. He was a beast.” “A dear friend and extraordinary composer arranger and all-around brilliant talent, Johnny Mandel, just passed away,” wrote Michael Feinstein on Facebook. “The world will never be quite the same without his humor, wit and wry view of life and...

Kenny Rogers, a longtime star of country music, died Friday night, according to a statement posted by his family. He was 81. Known for such hits as “The Gambler,” “Lady,” “Islands in the Stream,” and “Lucille,” Rogers died peacefully at home in Sandy Springs, Ga., of natural causes at 10:25 p.m., the statement said.

Patrick Williams, who was best-known for his Emmy-winning television music but who was also a renowned and Grammy-winning big-band jazz leader and arranger, died Wednesday morning of complications from cancer at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 79. Williams was among the most versatile composers of his generation, earning an Oscar nomination (for adapting opera in “Breaking Away,” 1979), four Emmys (for dramatic music including “Lou Grant,” 1980) and two Grammys (for arrangements including his classic jazz album “Threshold,” 1974) during more than 50 years of music-making in New York and Los Angeles. In the middle of...

60 Minutes pulls four musical notes out of hat, and young composer Alma Deutscher takes off, improvising a piano sonata in under a minute. Video Link

Minnesota Orchestra Conductor Laureate Stanislaw Skrowaczewski has died. He was 93. Skrowaczewski came to Minnesota decades ago to lead what was then the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and he never left. He changed the face of classical music in Minnesota, and remained a towering presence in the classical music world until the end.

Sam Spence, whose energetic, muscular musical compositions were an integral part of NFL Films' celebration of pro football, died Saturday morning at a nursing center in Lewisville... His son, Kim Spence, said the fact that Spence died on the eve of the 50th Super Bowl reflected his flair for the dramatic...

One day in 1964, a New York advertising-jingle composer in his early 30s received an unlikely job offer. The composer, Mitch Leigh, the Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish furrier from Ukraine, had no theater experience to speak of. All he had ever done was compose incidental music for a couple of short-lived Broadway comedies — “Too True to Be Good” (1963) and “Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory” (1964). Now he was being asked to write the music for a new show that was going to try out at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. A few numbers...

Composer Ned Rorem has always seemed to exist in his own well-furnished sphere, writing music regardless of current fashion, saying exactly what he thinks (right as he's thinking it), and striking stances that are effortlessly provocative and contrary. He may even give you an argument about his 90th birthday Wednesday. "Other people turn 90," said the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rorem, who will be celebrated at a tribute concert Wednesday at the Curtis Institute, where he was on the faculty until recent years. Though he's not sure whether he'll attend, "I still think of myself as the youngest person at the party."

Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 8:54 PM CST Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 8:25 PM CST (NewsCore) - CHICAGO -- The man who composed Survivor's hit song "Eye of the Tiger" filed a lawsuit against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Chicago on Monday in a bid to stop the Republican presidential candidate from using it at campaign events without his permission. Rude Music Inc., owned by Frank Sullivan who composed and copyrighted the song in 1982, lodged the suit in federal court in Chicago, seeking an injunction against Gingrich, The Chicago Tribune reported. The suit lists a series...

You might be walking about humming Ennio Morricone’s songs and you won’t even know it. In his long and prolific musical career, he has written more soundtracks for cowboy movies than one would care to remember. He is the man we have to thank for the actual term “spaghetti western.” He is the guy who helped turn Clint Eastwood into a household name. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fist Full of Dollars, and For a Few Dollars More are some of the most popular movies that featured Morricone’s soundracks.

Bernard Herrmann may be best known for his memorable contributions to classic films, including his rousing overture to "North by Northwest," the shower scene in "Psycho," the romantic themes of "Vertigo," the eerie electronic music in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and the desolate blues of "Taxi Driver." He might have preferred to be celebrated for his opera "Wuthering Heights," symphonies and cantatas such as "Moby Dick," and other concert works. According to the film composer John Williams, Herrmann's greatest ambition was to be recognized as a conductor. Nonetheless, Herrmann's lasting legacy remains his work in the entertainment industry:...

Weisenthal Center demands Theodorakis be stripped of International Music Prize; composer: "US Jews behind Greek economic crisis." Mikis Theodorakis, best known for composing the musical score to the film Zorba the Greek, recently declared on Greek television that he was “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.” “Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists,” was one such comment. Another was “American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece also.” Theodorakis also blasted Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for establishing closer relations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was guilty, he said, of “war crimes...

Oscar-winning composer John Barry, the man behind many of the iconic James Bond theme tunes, has died at the age of 77.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Vinny Appice, Anita Baker, Jello Biafra, Andrea Bocelli, Simon LeBon, Kate Bush, Belinda Carlisle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shaun Cassidy, Darby Crash, Randy DeBarge, Bruce Dickinson, Thomas Dolby, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Siobhan Fahey, Neil Finn, Bela Fleck, Martin Fry, Lisa Germano, Grandmaster Flash, Jools Holland, Ice-T, Alan Jackson, Michael Jackson, Tony James, Joan Jett, Al Jourgensen, Nik Kershaw, Sammy Kershaw, Limahl, Madonna, Bird McIntyre, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, Alannah Miles, Gary Numan, Michael Penn, Vicki Peterson, Prince, Stacey Q, Will Sergeant, Nikki Sixx, David Sylvian, Toyah, Tanya Tucker, Paul Weller, Jane Wiedlin, Jah Wobble.

Herman Stein, a composer whose music for "It Came From Outer Space," "Creature from the Black Lagoon," and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" helped define the dramatic soundtrack of 1950s science fiction and horror movies, has died. He was 91. Stein died of congestive heart failure at his Los Angeles home on March 15, his record producer, David Schecter, said Friday. As a staff composer at Universal Studios, Stein collaborated with Henry Mancini and others to create music for nearly 200 movies and shorts, though he didn't get credit for all of his work because of the studio's tendency to give...

MOSCOW, September 22, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Russian audiences next week will get the chance to rediscover Dmitry Shostakovich and his music with a series of new recordings, concerts, and films to mark the centenary of his birth. Born in St. Petersburg in 1906 to a family of Polish origin, Shostakovich remains one of the 20th century's most popular composers -- and also one of the most prolific. He composed 15 symphonies, two operas, six concertos, 15 string quartets, three ballets, as well as film music. Oksana Dvornichenko met Shostakovich in 1974, one year before his death, while shooting a documentary...

LOS ANGELES - Lyle "Spud" Murphy, a prolific Hollywood composer and arranger best known for developing a composing system widely used by professional musicians, has died. He was 96. Murphy died Aug. 5 at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital of complications from recent surgery, colleagues said. Murphy, who contributed music to more than 50 films, arranged two of bandleader Benny Goodman's biggest hits, "Get Happy" and "Jingle Bells," and also transformed the children's song "Three Blind Mice" into the theme for the Three Stooges show. In his later years, Murphy kept active by spreading his method of composing, arranging and orchestration, which...

Joe Harnell, a Hollywood arranger for many singing stars, who earned a Grammy for his 1962 dance arrangement "Fly Me to the Moon Bossa Nova," died here on Thursday. He was 80. The cause was heart failure, which he suffered a week after slipping into a coma after a fall, his younger brother, Stewart Harnell, said. In the late 1950's and early 60's, Mr. Harnell, a pianist, conductor and composer worked with Peggy Lee in concerts and on several albums. Mr. Harnell conducted the orchestra on Ms. Lee's albums "Anything Goes: Cole Porter" and "Peggy Lee and the George Shearing...