Oscar-winning composer James Horner dies in plane crash


Academy Award-winning composer James Horner, who worked on Titanic, Braveheart, Field of Dreams, Avatar, Apollo 13, and scores of other Hollywood films, died Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara, California. He was 61.
His death was confirmed by his assistant Sylvia Patrycja, The Hollywood Reporter says. Officials said he was piloting the aircraft when it went down in a remote area 60 miles north of Santa Barbara. "We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," Patrycja wrote on Facebook. "He died doing what he loved."
Horner received two Oscars for his work on Titanic: One for original dramatic score and another for original song, shared with lyricist Will Jennings, for "My Heart Will Go On." He has three more films coming out this year: Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams scheduled for a July release; Wolf Totem, due in September; and The 33, out in November.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’
The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodges
The Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Codeword: October 9, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91
Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle