What is Harold Faltermeyer's net worth?
Harold Faltermeyer is a German musician, composer, and record producer who has a net worth of $25 million. Harold Faltermeyer was one of the most prolific composers of the 1980s. Faltermeyer composed "Axel F," the primary song for the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise, as well as the primary anthems/songs for "Top Gun" and "Fletch." He also co-wrote a number of hit singles, like Glenn Frey's "The Heat Is On" and Bob Seger's "Shakedown" (both of which were also used in different Beverly Hills Cop movies).
He won the 1986 Grammy for Best Album of Original Score for a Motion Picture or Television Special for his work on the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack. He won another Grammy the following year for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Top Gun Anthem."
Axel F Royalties
According to an interview in 2024 with the Wall Street Journal, Harold Faltermeyer has earned "millions" of dollars in royalties over the decades from "Axel F" alone. He earned money off the 2024 film reboot even though he was not directly involved in producing the soundtrack composition because his song was utilized. It should also be noted that Faltermeyer does not own the copyright to the song or any of his other soundtrack work. When a composer is young and has no leverage, movie studios are able to engage them on a work-for-hire basis.
Early Career
Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier was born in Munich, Germany, on October 5, 1952. He started to play the piano at six years old.
A music professor discovered that Harold had perfect pitch, and he trained in classic music and rock and roll. Harold worked at a recording studio and started engineering sessions.
In 1978, Giorgio Moroder brought Harold to Los Angeles to arrange the soundtrack for the movie "Midnight Express." He would also work on the soundtracks for "American Gigolo" and "Foxes" with Moroder. Around this time, they produced an album for Donna Summer. Along with two other writers, they co-wrote Donna's 1979 smash-hit "Hot Stuff."
(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Soundtrack Work
In 1983, Harold was hired to produce the soundtrack for a movie called "Thief of Hearts." The movie bombed when it was released a year later. But it wasn't all a loss. The film's producers were a pair of young hotshot up-and-comers named Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, who had recently completed a comedy starring Eddie Murphy called "Beverly Hills Cop." The producers desperately needed a theme song for the film, which had extremely high expectations, with Eddie Murphy at his absolute peak. One night, working late at Giorgio Moroder's studio, Harold banged out a simple but what would soon prove to be iconic instrumental on his Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer. He called it "Axel F." In 1986 "Axel F" won him a Grammy for Best Album of Original Score for a Motion Picture or Television Special.
In 1985, Harold continued his golden streak with the "Fletch" theme. He also composed the song "Bit by Bit," which was used prominently in the movie.
The streak continued the following year with "Top Gun." For Top Gun, Harold composed the theme and, scored the movie, and co-wrote several songs, including "Mighty Wings" by Cheap Trick. In 1987, he won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Top Gun Anthem."
In 1987, he produced the soundtrack for "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "The Running Man." In 1989, he worked on "Fletch Lives" and "Tango & Cash."
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