Ramin Djawadi honored as a BMI Icon at the 2024 BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards

On June 5^th BMI® celebrated its 2024 Film, TV & Visual Media Awards saluting the top performing composers of the past year at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Ramin Djawadi received the evening’s highest honor as the BMI Icon, recognizing his outstanding body of work across film, television and video games. Additionally, the most successful films, highest rated series on TV, cable and streaming services, and for the first time in the ceremony’s 40-year history, the most popular video games of the previous year were announced. The private ceremony was hosted by BMI President & CEO Mike O’Neill and BMI Vice President, Creative, Film, TV & Visual Media, Tracy McKnight.

O’Neill presented Djawadi with the BMI Icon award, noting that the legendary composer’s “memorable scores and themes are inspiring future generations of composers.” He went on to say, “Ramin, your work has truly transformed the movies, TV shows, and video games we all love, and created immersive experiences that have transported us beyond our wildest imagination.”

Following a video tribute highlighting his successful career, Djawadi noted that receiving this honor gave him “a moment to reflect and look back on my career.” He continued to thank his team and mentors Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt. He then brought his son and daughter to the stage and thanked his wife for being a driving force in his family’s life, saying “you are our icon.”

Djawadi is a two-time Emmy award-winning and three-time GRAMMY nominated film, TV and video game score composer. His diverse portfolio includes scores for hit series like Westworld, Person of Interest, Fallout, 3 Body Problem, and the groundbreaking score for HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones along with its prequel series House of the Dragon. Early in his career, Djawadi worked alongside industry titan Hans Zimmer on projects like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Batman Begins. He went on to score for blockbuster movies such as Iron Man, Eternals, Uncharted, The Man from Toronto, A Wrinkle in Time, Clash of the Titans, The Mountain Between Us, Pacific Rim and Blade: Trinity, among others. In addition to Djawadi’s illustrious film and television credits, he has composed music for several video games including Medal of Honor, Gears of War 4 and Gears 5. Beyond his screen achievements, Djawadi has conducted and performed at over 75 arena concerts, including multiple sold-out shows at venues like the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden.

In receiving this honor, Djawadi joins a prestigious list of BMI Icon Award recipients including Terence Blanchard, Mychael Danna, Alexandre Desplat, Harry Gregson-Williams, James Newton Howard, Christopher Lennertz, Thomas Newman, Rachel Portman (PRS), Mike Post, Alan Silvestri, Brian Tyler and John Williams, among others.

During the ceremony, many notable composers were honored for music featured in the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated network television series, highest-ranking cable network and streamed media programs, and the most popular video games. Some of the night’s multiple award winners included Sean Callery, Sherri Chung, Ludwig Göransson, Tom Howe, Deana Kiner, Kevin Kiner, Sean Kiner, John Murphy, Blake Neely, Mike Post and Brian Tyler. Atli Örvarsson received the most awards of the evening with a total of six crystals for his work on hit TV shows, and the new video game category honored five first-time award winners including Stephen Barton, chuck e. myers “sea,” J Scott Rakozy, Ted Reedy, and Inon Zur.