Hans Zimmer wins Oscar for ‘Dune’, accepts award in his dressing gown

28 March 2022, 12:05 | Updated: 28 March 2022, 13:01

Watch the IMAX trailer for Dune with heavy Hans Zimmer soundtrack

The award-winning composer was woken up at 2am by his daughter to go and celebrate in their hotel bar...

Hans Zimmer claimed an Academy Award for Best Original Score at last night’s Oscars for his 2021 film soundtrack, Dune.

The acclaimed German-born film composer has received 12 nominations from the Academy, but this is only his second win, his first being in 1994 for his soundtrack to The Lion King. This means Zimmer waited 27 years to win his second Oscar, longer than any other composer in history – a record previously held by Breakfast at Tiffany’s composer Henry Mancini.

The award for best original score was one of eight categories which the Academy prerecorded ahead of the 94th ceremony, a move which sparked criticism from wider industry, including Steven Spielberg.

According to his social media platforms, Zimmer’s daughter Zoë woke him up at 2am when his name was announced, to go and celebrate in their hotel bar in Amsterdam.

Zimmer’s celebration wear? Pyjamas and a white bathrobe, with a perfectly sized deep pocket to hold his Oscar.

Read more: The 10 best Hans Zimmer soundtracks

Prior to his award announcement, Zimmer performed a show in Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome with his orchestra. The majority of the musicians he is touring with currently, all played on Dune’s soundtrack.

In a video posted to Twitter, he thanked the musicians who had gathered in the hotel bar to celebrate his win, saying: “Had it not been for you and most of the amazing people in this room, this would never have happened.

“Had it not been for all the musicians in this band, all the musicians in my life who have given me the confidence to go and do these things.”

Zimmer’s current touring band includes 10 musicians from the orchestra of the Odesa Opera House (Ukraine), who he has paid tribute to in each of his live shows as “real wonder women” who fled Ukraine and joined him for his tour.

Read more: Ukraine orchestra and chorus perform ‘Va, Pensiero’ outside Odesa Opera House in powerful cry for peace

Ahead of the 94th Academy Awards, Zimmer highlighted that Dune was one of five films nominated for an Oscar with a theme of displacement.

The composer wrote alongside a blue and yellow graphic displaying the five films on Instagram: “We stand together #WithRefugees who are fleeing conflict and persecution around the world. @Refugees”

Dune beat out fellow nominees in the Best Original Score category, Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell), Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias), The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood), and Encanto (Germaine Franco).

Read more: ‘Encanto’ soundtrack: all the song names and the Mexican-American composer behind the music