Beyond The Police: Stewart Copeland’s Quiet Dominance in Hollywood Scores

From Police to Pixar: Stewart Copeland on Scoring the Biggest Films You Didn’t Know He Did

Stewart Copeland might forever be etched in music history as the explosive, high-energy drummer of The Police, but his creative journey didn’t end when the band stepped off the stage. In fact, it only expanded—into movie theaters, television screens, and even video game consoles.

For decades, Copeland has quietly built one of the most eclectic second acts in rock history, composing film scores that are just as bold and unconventional as his drumming style. From gritty crime dramas to whimsical animated tales, his compositions have popped up in places that might surprise even longtime fans.

A Composer in the Shadows

“It’s funny,” Copeland said in a recent (fictional) sit-down interview, “I’ll be at a dinner party, and someone will say they loved Wall Street or Rumble Fish, and I’ll smile because they have no idea I wrote the music. I love that.”

After The Police disbanded in the mid-80s, Copeland transitioned smoothly into composing, lending his kinetic style to Francis Ford Coppola’s haunting Rumble Fish (1983), where he blended percussion with ambient industrial sounds to mirror the film’s surreal mood. That score earned critical acclaim, launching a new chapter in his career.

Then came Wall Street, Highlander II, and a string of documentaries, indie films, and cable TV projects where Copeland honed his skill as a sonic storyteller.

 From Film to Console: The Spyro Era

Perhaps most unexpected was his work on the Spyro the Dragon video game series in the late 1990s. In gaming circles, his lush, rhythmic, and instantly recognizable compositions are considered legendary.

“I approached Spyro like a film,” he said. “Each world had to feel alive, had to have its own heartbeat. And since there were no words, the music had to do a lot of the storytelling.”

Fans often rank the Spyro soundtrack among the greatest video game scores of all time, and Copeland himself later revisited the project when the Reignited Trilogy was released in 2018, bringing his work to a new generation.

 Crossing Genres and Expectations

Today, Copeland continues to defy expectations. He’s composed for ballet companies, scored documentaries, and even written an opera. He insists he’s still learning. “There’s no ceiling. If I’m not scared by a project, I probably shouldn’t take it,” he jokes.

In a time when many artists coast on nostalgia, Stewart Copeland is living proof that reinvention isn’t just possible—it’s the ultimate form of creativity. Whether it’s behind a drum kit or a film score, his rhythms still hit hard.

“People know me for the fireworks,” he said. “But the silence between the explosions is where the real storytelling happens.”