He's a national treasure, and his work has inspired some incredible songs, scores, and soundtrack. Here are ten pieces of music from Stephen King movies, or about his work, for you to enjoy (and perhaps debate).
Anthrax
"Among the Living"
Thrash metal icons Anthrax's "Among the Living," from the 1987 album of the same name, was directly influenced by King's 1978 post-apocalyptic, good vs evil masterpiece The Stand. Main antagonist Randall Flagg pops up in the lyrics, under the name The Walking Dude. It's one of Anthrax's best, and a great way to kick off this list.
Fred Astaire
"Cheek to Cheek"
It's not all horror with King. The scene in The Green Mile, where John Coffey is sat hypnotized as Fred Astaire croons this song to Ginger Rogers during a dance, is quite beautiful. "Angels," Coffey says, experiencing a movie for the first time.
Little Richard
"Keep-A-Knockin"
The use of music in Christine is glorious. Long before Bumblebee of the Transformers, Christine the killer Plymouth Fury would get her messages across through the medium of song. Hence, when one hapless fellow was trying to break into Christine, she blasted out this Little Richard gem.
Firestarter score (1984)
Electro-synth pioneers Tangerine Dream are the masters of the '80s score, and their work on the 1984 Firestarter movie (starring Drew Barrymore) is some of their best. Somber, sinister and absolutely glorious.
Firestarter score (2022)
The remake of Firestarter may not have been a great flick, but one of the treats that emerged from it is a brand new score by horror maestro and longtime friend of King's, John Carpenter.
Anthrax photo by Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
