Mark Hamill & 'Star Wars' Cast Wishes John Williams A Happy 90th Birthday!

Composer John Williams turned 90 years old yesterday, on February 8, 2022!

Williams is the composer, conductor, and pianist behind many familiar works.

Although he is best known for composing music for the “Star Wars” film saga, Williams has also composed multiple scores for “Jaws,” “Schindler’s List,” “Superman,” the “Indiana Jones” franchise, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” the first two “Home Alone” films, the first two “Jurassic Park” films, and the first three “Harry Potter” films. Williams has also composed the scores for nine of the top 25 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office, adjusted for inflation.

For his work, Williams has been awarded 25 Grammy Awards, 7 British Academy Film Awards, 5 Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. He has 52 Academy Award nominations, which makes him the second-most nominated individual in history behind Walt Disney.

Actor Mark Hamill, who is well-known for his role as Jedi Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” franchise, took to Twitter on Wednesday to wish John Williams a belated happy birthday!

“For John Williams: It is simply impossible to underestimate your contribution to the success of the #StarWars films. #ThankYou_YaBigHunkaGenius,” Hamill tweeted.

Many fans piled on to wish John Williams a happy birthday as well. Many also recounted what it was like listening to Williams’ scores for the first time.

“Listening to the soundtracks was almost a religious experience when I was a kid,” one user commented. “Before we had the movies on VHS I had Princess Leia's theme on vinyl. John Williams taught me so much of what I know about music.”

“Motion picture music, in general, is the baby of John Williams,” another joked.

Many other “Star Wars” greats, including Michael Giacchino (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), LudwigGöransson (The Mandalorian), John Powell (Solo: A Star Wars Story), and Kevin Kiner (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch) also sat down with StarWars.com to talk about the impact that Williams’ scores had on their own work.

“To say that John Williams has been an inspiration to myself or any contemporary film composer would be the greatest understatement,” Giacchino began. “It is too difficult to put it into words how important his work has been to all of us in this business.”

“Listening to John’s music is not only a masterclass in film composing and storytelling, but John is an example of someone who has taken his talent and passion to transform other parts of the musical world, in particular his work in the classical arena that not only gave us pieces outside of film music, but his time at the Boston Pops has helped open the door for the acceptance of film music in the concert world, something for which I am very grateful.”

He described how “it was the liner notes of Star Wars — there was an insert in the album — that really piqued my interest in film music. It was there that I began to understand how the use of different instruments and thematic material helped to define the characters and emotions in the story.”

“Working on those projects and being able to include Williams’ homages here and there was a dream come true,” he added. “John, your music will be forever etched in the history of film music and beyond. Here’s to 90 more years!”

“John Williams is the most successful and influential film composer of all time,” Göransson shared. “In fact, I don’t know any other composer whose music has reached so many people across all ages in every corner of the world. It’s pure magic how his music becomes so instantly relatable and therefore also finds life outside the films and cinemas.”

“Because of John Williams’ music, I was able to connect with and understand certain emotions growing up; in my professional career I often look back on those times,” he continued. “While scoring The Mandalorian, for example, I reflected on the first time I experienced the music from Star Wars. I strived to recreate a similar feeling of adventure and youthful wonder that I felt as a child. It’s truly an honor to continue a legacy so revered.”

“John Williams never stops challenging himself or his audience,” he went on. “Every note written is carefully crafted with intention and brought to life with immense care and devotion. Throughout his career, he consistently pushes boundaries in exciting and novel ways; his curiosity for the arts radiates through it. To celebrate 90 years of age and still maintain that level of passion and drive, will always be my guiding North Star.”

Powell praises Williams’ “incredible rhythmic use of orchestra, the way I’m roused as it connects to the story, and how a plot seems to suddenly move forward when his music is under it. And this is all before I was ever aware of ‘film composers.’”

“For me, he actually transcends ‘film scoring,’ and he is simply one of the great composers of orchestral music,” Powell said.  “I’ve said this before, having been privy to seeing a little of his process — I realized he is not, in some way, unusual or impossibly different from all other composers. He’s using the same techniques, the same rules, the same approaches as everyone else. He’s simply better than everyone else.”

“The first time I remember hearing a John Williams score was watching Star Wars in Westwood California where I was attending UCLA,” Kiner recalled. “I remember thinking, ‘How does he make that sound?’ That and the Superman score started me on a life-long quest to unravel his secrets and find my own path to making my own mysteriously wonderful sound.”

“He is simply the pinnacle, full stop,” Kiner added. “No one else comes close to his virtuosity and command of orchestral scoring. He defined what a blockbuster should sound like.”

Here's to wishing John Williams a very happy birthday with his most iconic scores throughout the decades!