Gustavo Santaolalla

Composer Gustavo Santaolalla began his musical career in 1967 as the guitarist, vocalist, and cofounder of Arco Iris, an influential Argentine band that fused rock with Latin American folk music. ∙ As a producer, he made substantial contributions to the rock en español movement via his work with Café Tacvba, Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio, Julieta Venegas, Juanes, and Los Prisioneros. ∙ He began composing music for soundtracks after “Iguazu”—an instrumental track from his 1998 solo album, Ronroco—was featured prominently in Michael Mann's 1999 film, The Insider. ∙ Santaolalla has won 2 Grammy Awards and 12 Latin Grammy Awards for his production work, including 2005’s Latin Grammy for Producer of the Year. In 2015, he was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. ∙ He achieved the rare honor of winning back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Original Score—for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain and 2006’s Babel. ∙ Santaolalla has composed soundtracks for two video games, 2013’s The Last of Us and 2019’s The Last of Us, Vol. 2. ∙ He executive produced the docuseries Rompan Todo: La Historia del Rock en América Latina (Break Everything: A History of Rock in Latin America) in 2020 and also nabbed a Grammy nomination for Aura.