Éric Serra

Eric Serra is a composer born in France in 1959, best known for the film scores written for film director Luc Besson.

The son of French songwriter Claude Serra, Eric was brought up in a musical background and learned the guitar in his youth. By the age of 15 he was playing rock and jazz and graduated to playing for artists such as Yousou n'Dour and Mory Kanté.

By 1980 he was playing bass and composing music for popular French singer Jacques Higelin though it was 1981 when he got his big break. He was approached by filmmaker Luc Besson to write music for his short film L'avant Dernier. It was a successful collaboration and Serra has provided the music for Besson's subsequent films including The Fifth Element, Leon and The Big Blue. The soundtrack album for The Big Blue sold 2.5 million copies worldwide and earned Serra the French honour of Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Serra has also worked with other film makers including Pierre Grimblat and Didier Grousset and in 1995 he was asked to provide the music for the James Bond film Golden Eye. Serra's rock band, RXRA, released their debut album, RXRA, in 1998 featuring a collaboration with Chrissie Hynde and in 2005 the band played their first live concert, accompanied by a 65 piece orchestra.