The Walking Dead composer Bear McCreary receives award

Many fans of The Walking Dead enjoy the music featured in the series as much as the series itself. This is due to the musical genius of Bear McCreary. This year ASCAP has recognized his work on The Walking Dead by awarding him Top Cable Television Series for the music in the series.

McCreary has been with The Walking Dead since before the characters had even been cast. Season one showrunner Frank Darabont is responsible for bringing McCreary on board. And thank goodness he did. As with most series or films, the soundtrack is vital to convey the tone.

In an interview from 2019 with Metro.co.uk, McCreary had this to say about creating the theme song.

"I have to admit that I struggled with The Walking Dead theme, perhaps more than any other theme for a show that I’ve ever written.Normally the theme is the first thing I write, and in the case of The Walking Dead, I just couldn’t crack it, and I struggled at it so long, I eventually started scoring the show when Frank [Darabont, season one showrunner] and I, we’d come together, go through it, talk about all the themes, and I just started writing cues.Literally the last 15 seconds of the episode, I suddenly have an action thing to write, so I started looking at it, and immediately I heard this urgent fast string break that use the open strings of a violin, G, D and A. I added a D Flat and within seconds I heard this thing, this urgent, Bernard Harmann kind of colour."

Bear McCreary wins ASCAP Award for The Walking Dead

The 2021 ASCAP Screen Music Awards was held recently, and Bear McCreary took the Top Cable Television Series award. McCreary has won other ASCAP awards for his work on Eureka, and in 2013 he won for The Walking Dead in the Top Television Series.

He is no stranger to awards for his work. He has been nominated and won many awards at the International Film Critics Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, Game Audio Network Guild, and British Academy Games Awards.

McCreary has used his musical genius to add depth to many other shows, including Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to only name a few.

One of the new projects he is working on, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, is an animated reboot of the original Masters of the Universe that aired in the 80s. In February, executive producer Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob, Clerks) posted the clip of the new introduction to the series that McCreary created. You can see the clip below, and you can imagine the title sequence of He-Man with this music behind it. Outstanding!

Congrats to Bear McCreary on his well-deserved recognition for his work on The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC with the season eleven premiere on August 22, 2021.