Cliff Martinez

Cliff Martinez is one of those people whose career arc I genuinely admire. He started as a drummer, and not for just anyone, he played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, before reinventing himself entirely as a film composer. That pivot from rock rhythm section to atmospheric film scoring is rare, and it clearly worked, given his two Robert Awards for Best Score in 2014 and 2017. Born in New York in 1954, he strikes me as a craftsman who follows the sound rather than the spotlight. I always trust musicians who can completely reinvent what they do mid-career.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Cliff Martinez

Name (Japanese)

クリフ・マルティネス

Reading

くりふ・まるてぃねす

Born

February 5, 1954 (age 72)

Origin

New York City, New York, United States

Occupation

composer / drummer / film score composer / musician

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Horse

Awards & achievements

• 2014 Robert Award for Best Score
• 2017 Robert Award for Best Score

• Official sitehttps://cliff-martinez.com
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff%20Martinez
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AA%E3%83%95%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%8D%E3%82%B9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q455964

Tags

• New York
• composer
• drummer
• film score composer

Last updated

September 18, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.