1. Brief Piano Lessons, Big Impact Despite being a musical genius, Zimmer had only two weeks of formal piano lessons. He disliked the discipline of traditional training and preferred experimenting with sounds on his own.

2. He Appears in a Music Video Before becoming a film composer, Zimmer played keyboards for The Buggles and can be spotted in their iconic 1979 video “Video Killed the Radio Star”—the first music video ever aired on MTV.

3. Scored a Game Show Theme In 1987, he co-composed the theme for the British TV game show Going for Gold. He once joked that the royalties from it paid his rent for a long time.

4. Denied Entry to South Africa Zimmer was once barred from entering South Africa due to his work on The Power of One, a film critical of apartheid. Disney feared for his safety while recording The Lion King score, so they arranged for the African choir to record elsewhere.

5. Used a $200 Piano for Sherlock Holmes For Sherlock Holmes (2009), Zimmer bought a broken, out-of-tune piano for just $200 to create the film’s gritty, offbeat sound. He wanted the music to feel as raw and eccentric as Holmes himself.

6. He Once Scored a Film Before It Was Shot For The Thin Red Line (1998), director Terrence Malick asked Zimmer to compose music before filming began. Zimmer delivered a six-hour score that influenced the film’s tone and pacing.

7. He’s on the “Top 100 Living Geniuses” List In 2007, The Daily Telegraph named Hans Zimmer one of the Top 100 Living Geniuses, recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to modern film music.