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More Musical Melodies
Local legends who started here, then bloomed into Hollywood fame,
include James Roy Horner. Horner attended Verde Valley School in
Sedona. He went on to become an American composer, conductor
and orchestrator of film scores, writing over 100 of them. This was all
before his tragically early death at only 61 years old; the result of an
accident in his turboprop airplane, of which he was the sole occupant.
Horner’s first major score was in 1979 for The Lady in Red, but he
established himself as an eminent film composer with his work on the
1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. His score for James Cameron’s
Titanic is the best-selling orchestral film soundtrack of all time, for
which he won two Academy Awards. He also wrote the score for
the highest-grossing film of all time, Cameron’s Avatar.
His list of movie scores continues to read as a list of Best Movies Ever:
Aliens (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Apollo 13 (1995), Braveheart
(1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Legends of the Fall (1994), Jumanji
(1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Deep Impact (1998), The Perfect
Storm (2000), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Troy (2004),
The Legend of Zorro (2005), The Karate Kid (2010), The Amazing
Spider-Man (2012), and the list continues.
Singer/Songwriter Michelle Branch is from Flagstaff. Born prematurely,
at only 3lbs 11oz. Branch says, “I was eager to get into the world.” And
to start singing. She recorded her first Beatles’ cover, reworded, “She’s
Got a Chicken to Ride,” and mailed it off to her grandmother, at three
years old. At eight, the family moved to Sedona. By 15, she had left
school and was being homeschooled. It was later that year she signed
with music manager Jeff Rabhan, who is still her manager today.
Michelle eventually signed with Madonna’s label, and worked with Lifehouse, Jude,
The Calling, Sheryl Crow, The Dixie Chicks, and Carlos Santana, gaining Michelle
worldwide recognition. That final duet ‘made her,’ afterwards being nominated for
“Best New Artist” and winning “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals” at the Grammy
Awards in February 2003. She has gone on to perform at the Superbowl, Latin VMAs,
headlining the Pepsi Smash, Humanitarian of the Year, MMVAs, and was the first
person to perform on top of the Madison Square Garden marquee. Her fifth
and latest record, The Trouble with Fever, was released in 2022. Voila, my favorite
review of the album:
https://thatmusicmag.com/album-review-michelle-branch-the-trouble-with-fever
DTPR MAGAZINE #15-2: March - April 2025
James Roy Horner
Michelle Branch