John Murphy | |
|---|---|
 Murphy at the 2022WonderCon | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1965-03-04)4 March 1965 (age 60) Liverpool, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Taped Noise |
| Website | johnmurphyofficial |
John Murphy (born 4 March 1965) is an Englishfilm composer. He is a self-taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s, working with fellow Liverpool-nativesThe Lotus Eaters andThomas Lang, as well asClaudia Brücken. His early film score career saw him work withDavid Hughes from the electronic groupOMD, and he has collaborated with directorsDanny Boyle,Guy Ritchie,Michael Mann,Matthew Vaughn,Stephen Frears, andJames Gunn.
Murphy gained recognition in the film industry while working with Guy Ritchie on his filmLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Michael Mann'sMiami Vice, Matthew Vaughn'sKick-Ass and scoring various films by Danny Boyle. His instrumental tracks "In the House – In a Heartbeat" from28 Days Later and "Adagio in D Minor" fromSunshine, both films by Boyle, have been featured in a variety of TV shows, commercials andfilm trailers. In 2018, he scoredLes Misérables for theBBC, and in 2020, he composed the score for James Gunn'sThe Suicide Squad, beginning a collaboration that continued in 2023 withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and in 2025 withSuperman, which he composed withDavid Fleming.
Born on 4 March 1965 inLiverpool, England, Murphy's interest in music was sparked when he heardThe Beatles rendition of "Twist and Shout", which was the first song he learnt on the guitar.[1] Coming across a book in London, titled,How to be a Film Score Composer, he began composing music for films in the early 1990s and scored his first hit withLeon the Pig Farmer.[1] Together withDavid Hughes, formerly of the Merseyside-based electronic groupOMD, he worked on several successful films, enjoying particular success with the soundtrack toGuy Ritchie's 1998'sLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.[1]
Since Guy Ritchie'sSnatch (2000), Murphy has worked independently and has been based in Los Angeles. His successes includeDanny Boyle's post-apocalyptic horror28 Days Later and its sequel28 Weeks Later.[1] He also collaborated withUnderworld to score Boyle's science fiction filmSunshine. In 2006, Murphy composed the score forMichael Mann'sMiami Vice. He composed the music for the2009 remake of the 1972 filmThe Last House on the Left, followed by 2010'sKick-Ass, based onthe comic book of the same name. Other excerpts from his scores have been used for advertising, film trailers, television shows and video games, in particular "In the House – In a Heartbeat" from28 Days Later, and "Adagio in D Minor" fromSunshine; the former has featured in a number of tense situations on TV shows, such as theBBC'sTop Gear,Dragon's Den,The Apprentice andMasterChef.[2][3]
In 2014, he released an album titledAnonymous Rejected Filmscore[4] that had been, as the title suggests, composed for a film whose studio head had rejected for being too 'weird'.[5][6] Murphy promised the director that he wouldn't name the film. The score was allowed to develop in directions unconstrained by the original film's narrative[6] and the cover art is a photograph of Murphy's son, taken by his wife through her sunglasses.[6]
In 2018, he scoredLes Misérables for the BBC, and in 2020, he composed the score forJames Gunn'sThe Suicide Squad, beginning a collaboration that continued in 2023 withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In 2024, he andDavid Fleming scored Gunn'sSuperman (2025), the first film of theDC Universe, for which they also incorporated nods toJohn Williams' "Superman March" fromRichard Donner's1978 film into the score.[7]
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Where the Bad Girls Go | Chris Bernard | Documentary short |
| Eunice the Gladiator | |||
| 2000 | The Valley | Dan Reed | |
| 2013 | Love Never Fails/Forever Found | Kelsey Shaw McNeal |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Modern Times | Episode: "The Bubble" |
| 2011 | Dispatches | Episode: "The Battle for Haiti" |
| Frontline | Episode: "Battle for Haiti" | |
| 2018 | Les Misérables | Miniseries |
| 2022 | Peacemaker | TV series |
| The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special | Special |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CZ Rock [8] | FRA [9] | ||||||||||||
| "In the House – In a Heartbeat" | 2012 | — | 89 | 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album | |||||||||
| "Pumped Up Kicks" (featuringRalph Saenz) | 2022 | 1 | — | Peacemaker (Soundtrack from the HBO Max Original Series) | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
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