The news broke over Twitter early this morning that famed film composer John Barry died Sunday, according to his family. According to various sources, Barry died of a heart attack. He was 77 years old.
The first person outside of the family to tell the news about Barry’s death was film composer David G. Arnold. In his tweet, he wrote, “it was with a heavy heart that i tell you John Barry passed away this morning.”
Barry was an Oscar-winning film composer whose jazzy style made his music one of the signature sounds of the 1960s, creating music for films such as British New Wave film “The Knack…and How to Get It” as well as the first James Bond film “Dr. No”. Barry, who was uncredited in “Dr. No,” went on to create music for the majority of the Bond series, up to “The Living Daylights” in 1987.
Barry also wrote the music for “Lion in Winter”, “Out of Africa”, “Dances with Wolves”, “Chaplin”, and many more films.
According to Billboard, before Barry became a film composer, he founded the John Barry Seven, a jazz group, in 1957, and made hits “What Do You Want” and “Poor Me”, which featured Adam Faith singing.
Barry is survived by his his wife Laurie and their four children as well as five grandchildren.
