Aaron Zigman

Early life and career

Zigman was born in San Diego, California. A graduate of Point Loma High School, he studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. While still at university, he had a contract with Almo Irving and wrote songs for Carly Simon, the T.V. show Fame, and co-wrote with David Lasley, Jerry Knight and Steve Cropper. In 1983, he began studying with his cousin George Bassman (who orchestrated The Wizard of Oz and wrote the music for the films Marty and The Postman Always Rings Twice). Bassman had also penned the Tommy Dorsey Classic, "Getting Sentimental Over You", was the musical arranger for Lena Horne and Benny Goodman and orchestrated for Andre Kostelanetz. In the 1980s, Zigman began to make a name for himself as a studio musician and wrote a big hit in pop music called "Crush On You" which was a top chart record for The Jets. He then worked for Clive Davis and produced and arranged for Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole. During this time he wrote, arranged and produced songs for many of the top singers and artists in the industry such as Ray Charles, Phil Collins, Dionne Warwick, Boz Scaggs, Tina Turner, Seal, Carly Simon, the Pointer Sisters, Jermaine Stewart, Huey Lewis, Jennifer Holliday, Patti LaBelle, Chicago, Natalie Cole and Christina Aguilera. In the 1990s he entered the film industry, with his work being featured on film soundtracks for Mulan, What's Love Got to Do With It?, The Birdcage, Licence to Kill, and Pocahontas. His first film score was for the 2002 film, John Q.. This led to his first major film score which was the 2004 film, The Notebook, which he won multiple BMI Awards for.