Bear McCreary confirmed as THE RINGS OF POWER's composer, Howard Shore returning for the theme tune

Confirming news first leaked a year ago, Bear McCreary will be working on Amazon's Lord of the Rings prequel show The Rings of Power as its main composer, whilst the Lord of the Rings trilogy composer Howard Shore will return to pen the main theme tune.

McCreary's work on Battlestar Galactica was so acclaimed that he ended up performing to thousands of people in huge live shows.

McCreary rose to fame with his offbeat, atmospheric music for Battlestar Galactica. After working as an assistant on the 2003 mini-series he became the main composer for the show itself, staying with it all the way until its conclusion in 2009. He returned for spin-off shows and TV movies.

He also scored Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD, Black Sails, Outlander, See, Snowpiercer and Foundation in television, and worked on films including 10 Cloverfield Lane and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. His video game work includes God of War and its upcoming sequel, and Call of Duty: Vanguard. He won an Emmy in 2013 for his work on the soundtrack to Da Vinci's Demons.

Amazon has released two full tracks from the soundtrack today: "Galadriel" and "Sauron," which I assume will be the leitmotifs for those respective characters. This may also be a minor spoiler, confirming Sauron will show up in the first season. That might feel like a given (Sauron is involved in the span of time that the show covers), but there was some speculation that Sauron might not show up until later. Both tracks are very good.

Howard Shore & Bear McCreary in talks to join LORD OF THE RINGS prequel series as composers

Deadline has broken a story that will have many people cheering: Howard Shore, who scored all six of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth movies, is in talks to join the Amazon Lord of the Rings prequel series set in the Second Age as composer.

Fellowship of Fans has backed up the story and gone further to say that Shore actually signed on several months ago and is already working on the project. They also claim that Bear McCreary will also work on the show's music. McCreary is best known for his work on the 2003 version of Battlestar Galactica, as well as The Walking Dead, Agents of SHIELD, Outlander and the God of War video game series. McCreary's involvement has so far not been backed up by any other sources.

Shore joining the project will be well-received news by fans. Shore's work on the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy remains outstanding, netting him four Oscar nominations and three wins: Best Original Score for The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King, and Best Song for "Into the West." He received a fifth nomination for his score to the movie Hugo. His other film work includes The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Philadelphia and Seven.

Amazon recently wrapped filming on the first season of the series, which will premiere on Amazon Prime on 2 September 2022. A second season is in pre-production and is due to start shooting in January.