Nobuo Uematsu Biography

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese video-game composer who has garnered widespread fame for his work on the ‘Final Fantasy’ series by Square Enix. One of the best-known composers in the video game industry, he is often regarded as the "Beethoven of video games music”. A native of the island of Shikoku, Uematsu is a self-taught musician. Inspired by the likes of English singer-songwriter Elton John, he started playing the piano when he was about 11 or 12 years old. In 1985, he started working at Square, where he later became acquainted with ‘Final Fantasy’ creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. In the ensuing two decades, they collaborated on several projects. Uematsu made his departure from Square in 2004 to establish his own production company. He has since served as a freelance music composer on several games. Throughout his career, Uematsu has put out several soundtracks and arranged albums, and his music has been performed at various concerts. Between 2002 and 2012, he served as the keyboard player in the hard rock band The Black Mages. Uematsu has been featured five times in the top 20 of the annual Classic FM Hall of Fame.