--- title: James Horner: 'Titanic' Composer Dies in Plane Crash description: "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," his assistant wrote canonical: https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-23T11:15:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:49.370Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Titanic' Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash og:description: "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," his assistant wrote og:url: https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03340af3050bc587/698857e13c163923eb45880f/ap120327020000.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Titanic 3D World Premiere - London og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Titanic' Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash twitter:description: "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," his assistant wrote twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03340af3050bc587/698857e13c163923eb45880f/ap120327020000.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Titanic_ Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): 100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tfrXo5zL.m3u8) (5:21)  _Published 2014-02-12. Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. No Intermission._ by [Mike Barnes/The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Mike Barnes/The Hollywood Reporter Jun 23, 2015 11:15 AM UTC  James Horner arrives for the world premiere of Titanic 3D at the Royal Albert Hall in London on March 27, 2012 James Horner arrives for the world premiere of Titanic 3D at the Royal Albert Hall in London on March 27, 2012Ian West—Press Association/AP by [Mike Barnes/The Hollywood Reporter](https://time.com/author/the-hollywood-reporter/) ## Mike Barnes/The Hollywood Reporter Jun 23, 2015 11:15 AM UTC James Horner, the consummate film composer known for his heart-tugging scores for _Field of Dreams_, _Braveheart_ and _Titanic_, for which he won two Academy Awards, died Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. He was 61. His death was confirmed by Sylvia Patrycja, who is identified on Horner’s film music page as his assistant. “We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent,” Patrycja wrote on Facebook on Monday. “He died doing what he loved. Thank you for all your support and love and see you down the road.” Horner was piloting the small aircraft when it crashed into a remote area about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara, officials said. [An earlier report](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/titanics-james-horner-plane-crashes-804339) noted that the plane, which was registered to the composer, had gone down, but the pilot had not been identified. For his work on the 1997 best picture winner _Titanic_, directed by James Cameron, Horner captured the Oscar for original dramatic score, and he nabbed another Academy Award for original song (shared with lyricist Will Jennings) for “My Heart Will Go On,” performed by Celine Dion. “My job — and it’s something I discuss with Jim all the time — is to make sure at every turn of the film it’s something the audience can feel with their heart,” Horner said in [a 2009 interview](http://herocomplex.latimes.com/uncategorized/oscarwinning-composer-james-horner-says-michael-bay-wouldnt-understand-the-soul-of-avatar/) with the _Los Angeles Times_. “When we lose a character, when somebody wins, when somebody loses, when someone disappears — at all times I’m keeping track, constantly, of what the heart is supposed to be feeling. That is my primary role.” His score for _Titanic_ sold a whopping 27 million copies worldwide. His fruitful partnership with Cameron also netted him Oscar noms for original score for the blockbusters _Aliens_ (1986) and _Avatar_ (2009). The pair reportedly were also at work on _Avatar_ sequels. The Los Angeles native earned 10 Oscar noms in all, also being recognized for his work on two other best picture winners: _Braveheart_ (1995) and _A Beautiful Mind_ (2001). He also received noms for _An American Tail_ (1986), _Field of Dreams_ (1989), _Apollo 13_ (1995) and _House of Sand and Fog_ (2003). Always busy, Horner has three films coming out soon: _Southpaw_, the boxing drama that stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams and is due in theaters in July; Jean-Jacques Annaud’s _Wolf Totem_, out in September; and _The 33_, a drama based on the 2010 mining disaster in Chile that’s set for November. His lengthy film résumé includes _The Lady in Red_ (1979), _Wolfen_ (1981), _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ (1982) and _Star Trek III: The Search for Spock_ (1983), _Red Heat_ (1988), _Glory_ (1989), _The Rocketeer_ (1991), _Patriot Games_ (1992), _Searching for Bobby Fischer_ (1993), _Jumanji_ (1995), _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ (2000), _Troy_ (2004) and _The Amazing Spider-Man_ (2012). His father was two-time Oscar-winning art director/set designer Harry Horner _(The Heiress_, _The Hustler_). Horner spoke about the state of his career in a [December interview](http://jameshorner-filmmusic.com/conversation-james-horner/) with David Hocquet. “I’m much choosier,” he said.’ “I don’t want to be doing these movies that now 85 or 90 composers want, as opposed to six. And now all these movies, action movies. I don’t get offered all the movies obviously, but I see a lot of them and I do get asked to do a lot of them, and I just know they’re not asking me to do something that I can do something original, they’re asking me to do a formula and I’m too rebellious.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/james-horner-dead-titanic-composer-804365) _originally appeared on_ [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com) _More from The Hollywood Reporter:_ * [2015 Summer Movie Guide: Sequels… Comedy… Action!](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/2015-summer-movie-guide-sequels-796697) * [Summer Box Office Champs: From Sharks to Shrek to Superheroes](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/summer-box-office-champs-summer-794202) * [Kids’ Summer Guide: 25 New Things Families Can Watch and Read Together](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-kids-movies-tv-shows-793024) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/"},"headline":"Titanic Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash","datePublished":"2015-06-23T11:15:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:49.370Z","description":"\"We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent\"","url":"https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/","keywords":["remembrance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03340af3050bc587/698857e13c163923eb45880f/ap120327020000.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mike Barnes/The Hollywood Reporter"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt03340af3050bc587/698857e13c163923eb45880f/ap120327020000.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Titanic 3D World Premiere - London","caption":"Titanic 3D World Premiere - London","creditText":"Ian West—Press Association/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3931609/james-horner-dies/","name":"Titanic Composer James Horner Dies in Plane Crash"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Years of Blockbusters in 5 Minutes","description":"Time has taken the highest grossing film each year for the past century and crammed them into 5 and a half minutes. 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