Ennio Morricone

November 10, 1928 – July 6, 2020

Metallica have paid tribute to Ennio Morricone, whose stirring piece of music The Ecstasy Of Gold, from the classic western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, served as a backstage warm-up and introduced every live concert the band played since 1983. “Thank you Ennio for pumping us up, being a big part of our inspiration and a bonding between band, crew and fan,” said James Hetfield. “I will forever think of you as part of the Metallica family.”

Italian composer, orchestrator and conductor Morricone scored more than 500 films, including Once Upon A Time In The West, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, The Hateful Eight, The Untouchables, The Mission and In The Line Of Fire.

His passing brought tributes from across music and film, with Little Steven Van Zant, Jean-Michel Jarre, Portishead, New Order’s Bernard Sumner, Massive Attack, Goldfrapp and Chance The Rapper all acknowledging his influence on them. Filmmaker John Carpenter described his friend and collaborator as “brilliant” and his talent “inestimable.” Fellow composer Hans Zimmer said: “Ennio taught me that the simplest, purest and honest melody is the hardest to write. That it’s not supposed to be easy, that it’s a profound mission we are on that we must take seriously and humbly when we write music.”

Morricone was among the silver screen’s ultimate mavericks. He refused to learn English, and resided in Rome for most of his life. He was 91 at the time of his death. Cause of death is yet to be released.