Photo: Sven Mandel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Trevor Rabin is one of those musicians who somehow managed to be iconic in two completely different careers, and I respect that enormously. As the guitarist who essentially revived Yes in the early 1980s — writing and anchoring "Owner of a Lonely Heart," the band's only number one single — he could have coasted on that legacy forever. Instead he pivoted to Hollywood and became one of the most recognizable film composers of the 1990s and 2000s, crafting the big, propulsive action sound you hear in Con Air, Armageddon, Remember the Titans, and National Treasure. That muscular, guitar-forward orchestral style is unmistakably his, and once you learn to hear it, you'll catch it everywhere. A genuinely underrated figure in rock history.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Trevor Rabin
- Name (Japanese)
- トレヴァー・ラビン
- Reading
- とれゔぁー・らびん
- Born
- January 13, 1954 (age 72)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Horse
- Origin
- Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
- Occupation
- composer / guitarist / film score composer / DJ producer / record producer
2. Background
- High school
- Parktown Boys' High School
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Trevor Rabin born?
Born January 13, 1954 (age 72).
Where is Trevor Rabin from?
Trevor Rabin is from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
What does Trevor Rabin do?
Trevor Rabin works as composer, guitarist, film score composer, DJ producer, record producer.
Composer — see all → · Guitarist — see all → · More people from South Africa →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
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.