Giovanni Giorgio Moroder was born to Ladin parents on 26 April 1940 in Urtijëi, South Tyrol, Italy. His father was a hotel concierge. He has three brothers, one of whom is artist Ulrich Moroder. Moroder grew up in a mixed Ladin-, Italian- and German-speaking environment in South Tyrol, with his mother calling him Hansjörg (pronounced[ˈhansjœrɡ]), a German version of his two first names.
Career
1963–1968: Early career
Moroder began teaching himself to play the guitar at age 15, inspired by Paul Anka's "Diana". At age 18, he began touring Europe as a professional musician. He performed at night, and during the day, made recordings with two Revox tape recorders. Moroder made his first steps in music in the Scotch Club in Aachen and then released a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1963 after moving to Berlin, singing in Italian, Spanish, English, and German.[citation needed] Around age 25, he moved in with his aunt in Berlin, where he worked as an audio engineer. Ricky Shayne's single "Ich sprenge alle Ketten" ("I bust all the chains"), composed by the then-unknown Moroder and Michael Holm, became a German hit. His second hit was his and Holm's cover version of "Mendocino" by the Sir Douglas Quintet. After two years in Berlin, Moroder moved to Munich in 1968.
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), before releasing the synthesizer-driven album From Here to Eternity, a chart hit in 1977. That same year he co-wrote and produced Donna Summer's Moog-driven "I Feel Love", 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 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 produced Sparks' album Number 1 in Heaven in 1979. Sparks hadn't made any synthesizer-based music before this album but they were inspired by the sound of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" and sought out Moroder to produce them. He also produced their following album in 1980, Terminal Jive. 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 with his longtime collaborator Donna Summer 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 filmMetropolis (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".
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. On 16 January, the collaboration with Kylie Minogue, "Right Here, Right Now", was leaked to the internet ahead of its official release. 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. 2021 saw Moroder return to the studio with Duran Duran, co-writing and producing two tracks, "Tonight United" and "Beautiful Lies" for their 2021 album Future Past. In January 2025, Moroder co-produced and co-wrote The Weeknd's songs "Big Sleep" (which he is also credited as a performing artist on) and "Without a Warning" from the album Hurry Up Tomorrow, serving as a sonic influence on the entire album.
His song "Tears" was sampled and used as the basis of the DJ Shadow song "Organ Donor" on his 1996 album Endtroducing...... Canadian hip hop group Swollen Members sampled the song in "Fuel Injected" and "Meltdown". It also appears on the song "Tragedy" by RZA. The main melody and chord progression form the basis of "Marz" by folk musician John Grant and "Only Light" by Australian ska band the Cat Empire. Hip hop duo Mobb Deep used a sample from the song "Tony's Theme" in their song "G.O.D. Pt. III". His song "E=MC²" was sampled and used for J. Dilla's song of the same title. One of his early compositions, "Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo" from 1969, was featured for many years in silent sketches on The Benny Hill Show as part of a medley that also included "Mah Nà Mah Nà", a 4/4 adaptation of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise", and "Gimme Dat Ding".
The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by hip-hop duo OutKast for their song "Return of the Gangsta", and by hip-hop producer J Dilla for "Phantom of the Synths", a beat later used by MF Doom for "Gazzillion Ear" and by Jay Electronica for "Dimethyltryptamine".
Moroder performing at First Avenue in Minneapolis, 2018
Moroder's opening theme from the 1983 film Scarface is sampled by Nas and Mobb Deep for the track "It's Mine". "Leopard Tree Dream" from Cat People is sampled by Cannibal Ox in the song "Iron Galaxy". "The Legend of Babel" theme from the Metropolis soundtrack was covered by DJ Dado. British electronica musician Little Boots covered "Love Kills", which was written in collaboration with Freddie Mercury. "Future Lovers", a song from American recording artist Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, has a bass line inspired by Donna Summer's Moroder-produced hit "I Feel Love". Furthermore, Madonna opened her 2006 Confessions Tour with a medley of "Future Lovers" and "I Feel Love". The version of "Live to Tell" that Madonna performed on The Confessions Tour heavily samples Moroder's song "Tears". Suns of Arqa's album "Technomor" includes the track "Moroder Vibe" which contains elements of "I Feel Love". Underworld's 1999 album, Beaucoup Fish, contains a song titled "Shudder/King of Snake", which contains an interpolation of the bass line from "I Feel Love".
In 2013, a dance club named after Moroder called Georgio's opened in Hollywood's Standard Hotel. Moroder even visited it and for the first time saw people dancing to his music, stating: "I never saw people dancing to my music. I was too busy working. I was always in the studio. I never took the coca."
Before his career reboot with Daft Punk, Moroder dedicated decades to his personal hobbies/projects. He designed a car with Marcello Gandini and ex-Lamborghini personnel Claudio Zampolli, the Cizeta-Moroder V16T. Also, in a 2013 interview, he spoke about the architectural design of a pyramid-like apartment that was supposed to take place in Dubai. It was never built. Other projects included creating his own cognac liquor and getting involved with digital and neon art and putting on shows.
2016 Giorgio Moroder donated the 13 platinum discs for Flashdance to the Museum Gherdëina in his hometown.
Moroder currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He was married to his Mexican manager, Francisca Gutiérrez, from 1990 until her death in 2022. Their son, Alessandro (b. 1989), is a Los Angeles–based visual artist.
Moroder is a friend of Michael Holm, with whom he composed the 1973 album Spinach 1 under the moniker "Spinach". Holm's song "Giorgio und ich" is dedicated to Moroder.[citation needed]
↑Krettenauer, Thomas (2017). "Hit Men: Giorgio Moroder, Frank Farian and the eurodisco sound of the 1970s/80s". In Michael Ahlers; Jacke, Christoph (eds.). Perspectives on German Popular Music. London: Routledge. ISBN978-1-4724-7962-4.
↑"This record was a collaboration between Philip Oakey, the big-voiced lead singer of the techno-pop band the Human League, and Giorgio Moroder, the Italian-born father of disco who spent the '80s writing synth-based pop and film music." Evan Cater. "Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder: Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
↑Hecktor, Mirko; von Uslar, Moritz; Smith, Patti; Neumeister, Andreas (1 November 2008). Mjunik Disco – from 1949 to now (in German). Blumenbar. pp.212, 225. ISBN978-3936738476.
↑"Giorgio Moroder: 'I Was Always Interested in the Hits' (Interview)". The Talks.com. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021. I actually didn't change my name, that is a misconception. My name is Giovanni Giorgio, that's how it is in my passport and that's what my birth certificate says. But my mommy called me Hansjörg, it's a translation from Italian to German... So I actually didn't change it...
↑"New Metropolis Sparks Controversy at Cannes". Variety. 16 May 1984.
↑Elsaesser, Thomas (2002). "Innocence Restored? Reading and Re-reading a 'Classic': Georgio Moroder's Metropolis". In Minden, Michael; Bachmann, Holger (eds.). Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Cinematic Visions of Technology and Fear. Boydell & Brewer. p.124. ISBN1-57113-146-9. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2017– via Google Books. Moroder's reissue...was bound to offend the purists if only because it smacked of such crass commercialism and seemed so evidently calculated to jump the culture barrier.
↑Jurkiewicz, Kenneth (March 1990). "Using Film in the Humanities Classroom: The Case of Metropolis". The English Journal. 79 (3): 47–50. doi:10.2307/819234. JSTOR819234. Although harshly criticized for its synthesized rock score, Moroder's reconstruction does have the virtue of clarifying a muddled plotline...Moroder's new version provides some illuminating changes in narrative continuity and character motivation, while still preserving the integrity of Lang's extravagant satiric vision.
↑Bertellini, Giorgio (Autumn 1995). "Restoration, Genealogy and Palimpsests". Film History. 7 (3): 277–290.
Moroder, Giorgio (15 May 2013). "Racer by Giorgio Moroder". Google Chrome. Google. Retrieved 24 August 2024– via YouTube. The soundtrack to Racer: A Chrome Experiment (g.co/racer). Original music by Giorgio Moroder.