By Nellie Andreeva, Deadline | Joel Sill, a music supervisor for more than 150 movies, including such cinema classics as Easy Rider, Flashdance, Forrest Gump and An Officer and a Gentleman, passed away Aug. 23 at his home in Thousand Oaks after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis. He was 78.
Born in Santa Monica in 1946 to a musical family, Sill spent time as a teenager observing a young Phil Spector, who had been signed as a songwriter by Sill’s father, Lester Sill, as he was beginning to build his career.
In 1967, after graduating from UCLA, Sill started work at Big-Three Music Publishing and eventually migrated to Dunhill Records where he produced the soundtrack for the 1969 film Easy Rider.
In his first professional milestone, Sill, then 24, was tasked with selecting the music for Dennis Hopper’s movie starring Peter Fonda at a time when the role of the music supervisor was not well established.
He packed Easy Rider with songs such as “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf, “The Weight” by The Band, and “Wasn’t Born To Follow” by The Byrds in what was described as a musical commentary to the film’s adventure that became a key part of the movie’s cultural identity.
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Read more about Mr. Sill’s placing of music in Flashdance, Forrest Gump, An Officer and a Gentleman, Purple Rain, and more here:
https://deadline.com/2025/08/joel-sill-dead-music-supervisor-easy-rider-flashdance-1236498317/
Joel Sill Dies: Veteran Music Supervisor For ‘Easy Rider’, ‘Flashdance’ & ‘Forrest Gump’ Was 78
