Often referred to as the Beethoven of video game music, composer Nobuo Uematsu began his collaboration with visionary Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi in 1986. ∙ He has composed scores for more than 70 video games, including the majority of the music for the Final Fantasy series. ∙ Uematsu created the themes for such anime films and TV series as Ah! My Goddess: The Movie and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. ∙ His Final Fantasy VIII theme, “Eyes on Me,” took home Song of the Year (Western Music) at the 1999 Japan Gold Disc Awards, marking the first time that video game music won the honor. ∙ His music has been performed throughout the world by numerous orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic. ∙ In 2004 he founded Dog Ear Records to release music by his own bands, The Black Mages and The Earthbound Papas.