John Murphy profile photo

John Murphy

Sound
60 years oldLiverpool, England, UK

Biography

John Murphy (born 4 March 1965) is a British film composer. He is a self-taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s, working with The Lotus Eaters, Thomas Lang, and Claudia Brücken. He has collaborated with directors Danny Boyle, Guy Ritchie, Michael Mann, Matthew Vaughn, Stephen Frears, and James Gunn. Murphy gained recognition in the film industry while working with Guy Ritchie on his film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Michael Mann's Miami Vice, Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, and scoring various films by Danny Boyle. His instrumental tracks "In the House—In a Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later and "Adagio in D Minor" from Sunshine have been featured in a variety of TV shows, commercials, and film trailers. Born in Liverpool, England, Murphy began composing music for films in the early 1990s and scored his first hit with Leon the Pig Farmer. Together with former OMD member David Hughes, he worked on several successful British movies, enjoying particular success with the soundtrack to 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Since 2000's Snatch, Murphy has worked independently and has been based in Los Angeles. His successes include Danny Boyle's box-office success 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later. He also collaborated with Underworld to score Danny Boyle's science fiction film Sunshine. In 2006, Murphy composed the score for Michael Mann's Miami Vice. In 2009, he composed the music for the 2009 remake of the 1972 film The Last House on the Left, followed by 2010's Kick-Ass, based on the comic book of the same name. Other excerpts from his scores have been released for advertising, in particular "In the House—In a Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later and "Adagio in D minor" from Sunshine. In 2014, he released an album titled Anonymous Rejected Filmscore that had been, as the title suggests, composed for a film whose studio head had rejected for being too 'weird.' Murphy promised the director that he wouldn't name the film. The score was allowed to develop in directions unconstrained by the original film's narrative, and the cover art is a photograph of Murphy's son, taken by his wife through her sunglasses. In 2019 he scored "Les Miserables" for the BBC, and in 2020, he composed the score for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Murphy (composer), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Personal Details

Born
March 4, 1965
Gender
Male
Place of Birth
Liverpool, England, UK
Known For
Sound

Movies (45)

Superman
7.4

Superman

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2025

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
7.9

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2023

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
7.1

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2022

The Suicide Squad
7.5

The Suicide Squad

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2021

City of the Dead

City of the Dead

Theme Song Performance (Sound)

2013

Eighty-Six
6.0

Eighty-Six

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2012

Kick-Ass
7.1

Kick-Ass

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2010

Armored
5.8

Armored

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2009

Janky Promoters
5.6

Janky Promoters

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2009

The Last House on the Left
6.5

The Last House on the Left

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2009

Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro
7.0

Bernard Herrmann: Hitchcock's Maestro

as Self

2008

Secret Access: Air Force One

Secret Access: Air Force One

Sound Recordist (Sound)

2008

28 Weeks Later
6.6

28 Weeks Later

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2007

Sunshine
7.0

Sunshine

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2007

Miami Vice
6.0

Miami Vice

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2006

Basic Instinct 2
5.0

Basic Instinct 2

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2006

The Man
5.8

The Man

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2005

Guess Who
6.0

Guess Who

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2005

Millions
6.4

Millions

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2004

The Perfect Score
5.8

The Perfect Score

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2004

Intermission
6.1

Intermission

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2003

Friday After Next
6.4

Friday After Next

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

28 Days Later
7.2

28 Days Later

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

City by the Sea
5.8

City by the Sea

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

Mama Africa

Mama Africa

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

New Best Friend
4.9

New Best Friend

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

All About the Benjamins
5.9

All About the Benjamins

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2002

Mean Machine
6.2

Mean Machine

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2001

Shooters
4.4

Shooters

Music (Sound)

2001

Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise
5.1

Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2001

Strumpet
5.1

Strumpet

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2001

Chain of Fools
5.8

Chain of Fools

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2001

Liam
6.1

Liam

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2001

Snatch
7.8

Snatch

Original Music Composer (Sound)

2000

The Bachelor
5.1

The Bachelor

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1999

One More Kiss
5.1

One More Kiss

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1999

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
8.1

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1998

The Real Howard Spitz
4.5

The Real Howard Spitz

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1998

What Rats Won't Do
4.8

What Rats Won't Do

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1998

Black Velvet Band
6.5

Black Velvet Band

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1997

Giving Tongue
1.0

Giving Tongue

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1996

Proteus
4.7

Proteus

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1995

Clockwork Mice
4.2

Clockwork Mice

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1995

Welcome II the Terrordome
5.8

Welcome II the Terrordome

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1995

A Feast at Midnight
6.0

A Feast at Midnight

Original Music Composer (Sound)

1994

TV Shows (1)