1963–1968: Early career Moroder began teaching himself to play the guitar at age 15, inspired by
Paul Anka's "
Diana".
1969–1983: Contribution to electronic music was located in the basement of the pictured
Arabella Hochhaus high-rise building. Moroder's 1969 single "
Looky Looky" was awarded a
gold disc in 1970. He then founded the
Musicland Studios in Munich in the early 1970s. Moroder first incorporated synthesizers into his work during the making of his album
Son of My Father (1972), on which he used a
Moog synthesizer. Often collaborating with lyricist
Pete Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name, including "
Son of My Father" (later a 1972 No. 1 hit in the UK for
Chicory Tip), the first track in the
Hi-NRG genre. The following year he released "
Chase", the theme from the film
Midnight Express. These songs achieved some chart success in the United Kingdom, the United States and across Europe, and disco-mania was spreading.
Midnight Express and "Chase" brought him an
Academy Award for Best Original Score in
1979. Moroder released
E=MC² in 1979. He released three albums between 1977 and 1979 under the name Munich Machine, the first of which remade several songs originally recorded by
Donna Summer. He composed and produced two film soundtrack albums: the first for
Foxes, and the second for
American Gigolo (both 1980). A double album of the
Foxes soundtrack was released on the disco label
Casablanca Records, which includes
Donna Summer's hit single "
On the Radio", which Moroder produced and co-wrote. The
Foxes soundtrack contains a song titled "Bad Love", written and performed by
Cher and produced by Moroder. The
American Gigolo soundtrack featured "
Call Me" by
Blondie, a US and UK number one hit which Moroder co-wrote and produced. The combined club play of the album's tracks was number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts. Moroder wrote the soundtrack of the film
Cat People (1982), including the hit single "
Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" featuring
David Bowie, and produced the
soundtrack for the film
Scarface (1983). During its initial release, the album was only available in a few countries and strictly through import in the United States. Moroder-produced tracks included "
Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" by
Paul Engemann, "
Rush Rush" by
Debbie Harry and "
She's on Fire" by
Amy Holland.
1984–1993: Recognition and hiatus and her husband
Bruce Sudano. On the left is Moroder's wife Francisca Gutierrez. In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the
silent film Metropolis (1927) and provided it with a contemporary soundtrack. This soundtrack includes seven pop music tracks from
Pat Benatar,
Jon Anderson,
Adam Ant,
Billy Squier,
Loverboy,
Bonnie Tyler and
Freddie Mercury. He integrated the original
intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity. Since the original speed was unknown, this choice was controversial. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked debate in film circles, with outspoken critics and supporters falling into equal camps. Most critics agree that, the opinion of film purists aside, Moroder's version was a welcome addition. In 1984, Moroder worked with
Philip Oakey of
the Human League to make the album
Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, which was a UK singles chart hit with "
Together in Electric Dreams", the title track to the 1984 film
Electric Dreams. The same year saw him collaborating with
Kajagoogoo frontman
Limahl for his worldwide hit "
The NeverEnding Story". In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his protégé
Harold Faltermeyer and lyricist
Tom Whitlock to create the score for the film
Top Gun (1986), which included
Kenny Loggins' "
Danger Zone" and
Berlin's "
Take My Breath Away". He wrote the theme song to the film
Over the Top, "
Meet Me Half Way", also performed by Loggins. In 1987, Moroder produced and co-wrote
Falco's song "Body Next to Body". Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "
Reach Out", for the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and "
Hand in Hand", for the
1988 Seoul Olympics and "
Un'estate italiana" for the
1990 FIFA World Cup. On 12 March 1992, Moroder released his fourteenth studio album,
Forever Dancing, his last solo project for years and he began a long hiatus in 1993. For two decades he released no new albums,
2012–present: Return and collaborations 2015 In 2013, Moroder returned to music with the soundtrack for Google's
Racer: A Chrome Experiment Moroder contributed to
Daft Punk's 2013 studio album
Random Access Memories, stating that he was a fan of their song "
One More Time" before working with the group; the album track "
Giorgio by Moroder" incorporates an interview with Moroder. In the summer of 2013, he DJ'd at the
Red Bull Music Academy in New York. In 2014, Moroder reworked an old classic from the 1960s called "Doo Bee Doo" (2014 version), which was used in the
Volkswagen 2014
Super Bowl commercial, "Wings". He also announced that he was planning to work with electro-pop producer
Madeon and American singer
Lana Del Rey. On 9 June 2014,
Adult Swim released a new
Hi-NRG Disco single by Moroder (named "Giorgio's Theme"). Moroder also remixed
Tony Bennett and
Lady Gaga's rendition of "
I Can't Give You Anything but Love". Moroder performed "Giorgio by Moroder" with the
Heritage Orchestra at the
Sydney Opera House during
Vivid Sydney 2014. Moroder's solo studio album,
Déjà Vu, was released in 2015. It features collaborations with
Kylie Minogue,
Britney Spears,
Sia,
Charli XCX,
Mikky Ekko,
Foxes and
Matthew Koma, among others. The song, along with a video teaser, was officially released on 20 January 2015 and on 18 April 2015 reached number one on the US
Dance Club Songs, becoming Moroder's first chart-topper in 15 years. In March 2015, Moroder supported Minogue during the Australian leg of her
Kiss Me Once Tour. Moroder and
Sia collaborated in May 2015 on the title track from Moroder's LP
Déjà Vu. In September 2015, Moroder was featured on
Kylie Minogue's EP
Kylie + Garibay on the song "Your Body". In 2016, he and
Raney Shockne wrote and composed the music to the video game
Tron RUN/r. The soundtrack album was released on 31 May 2016. In October 2016, Moroder produced "One More Day" for
Sistar, a Korean girl group. They debuted the song live on 8 October, at Korea's DMC Festival 2016, with Moroder being present in the audience. The music video for the song was released on 22 November, alongside the official digital release of the track. and "Beautiful Lies" for their 2021 album
Future Past. In January 2025, Moroder co-produced
The Weeknd's album
Hurry Up Tomorrow, as well as co-writing the songs "Big Sleep" and "Without a Warning", serving as a sonic influence on the entire album. ==Awards==