Thanks to its brass-heavy opening fanfare and soaring melody, Bill Conti's iconic theme for Rocky feels every bit as heroic as anything the Italian Stallion ever did in a boxing ring. Perfectly capturing the essence of Sylvester Stallone's 1976 fight flick, the music also marked a peak in the career of one of Hollywood's most celebrated composers. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1942, Conti learned his craft creating scores for Italian westerns before his fateful pairing with Stallone earned him his first Academy Award nomination. While Conti continues to show off for his flair for grand gestures and forceful momentum in his music for The Karate Kid and The Right Stuff, he balances that sense of swagger and sweep with moments of elegance and subtlety.