“This was the place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up”: Hans Zimmer becomes co-owner of BBC’s historic Maida Vale Studios
Zimmer has stressed that he wants Maida Vale to continue to be “a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity”.
Image: BBC
Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is now co-owner of the historic BBC Maida Vale studios, which has hosted sessions from the Beatles, to David Bowie and beyond.
According to the BBC, the complex will remain a “centre for pioneering music-making” regardless of the change in ownership. Throughout the years, it has become a cornerstone of the BBC’s music output, including John Peel’s famous Radio 1 sessions, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and more.
Zimmer too has said he wants Maida Vale to continue to be “a place that inspires, teaches, technologically serves the arts and humanity, and gives the next generation the same opportunities I was given: to create and to never give up”.
As a result, the BBC Symphony Orchestra will be relocated to BBC’s new studios in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London in 2025.
“I still remember the strong pull, the desire to touch the walls, as if that would somehow allow me to connect to the artists whose extraordinary music had resonated against these walls on a daily basis,” explains Zimmer about his first visit to the studios 45 years ago.
“This was a place of revolutionary science in the service of art, this was a place that inspired you to give your best, where music was performed around the clock and art was taken seriously. For the people by the people.
“This was the place that kept a struggling musician like me from giving up.”
The other two co-owners are Love Actually and Cats producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, however it is not known how much each owner paid in the deal.
