Tommy Tallarico is a veritable video game industry icon. As one of the most successful video game composers in history, he has helped revolutionize the gaming world, creating unique audio landscapes that enhance the video gaming experience. He is considered the person most instrumental in changing the game industry from bleeps & bloops to real music now appreciated worldwide by billions of fans. As a well-recognized on-air television personality, live performer, show producer, creative director, game console CEO/President, sound designer and composer, Tommy brings his in-depth knowledge, years of experience, and love of cutting edge multimedia and pop culture to the masses. Tommy has worked in the gaming industry as a designer, product manager, producer, writer, hardware executive, games tester and heads of both music and video departments. He produced, co-created, wrote and co-hosted 3 internationally award-winning syndicated and network television shows as well as creating, producing and hosting the continuing worldwide touring sensation Video Games Live. Since 2010 he has become a highly sought after live show creative director/producer. Clients include Disney, MGM, Blizzard/Activision, Capcom and artists such as Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin & EDM artist BT. In 2018 he was named CEO/President of legacy video game company Intellivision Entertainment to help launch a brand new home video game system called the Intellivision Amico.
An accomplished musician, Tallarico has been writing music for video games for over 30 years. He has won over 50 industry awards and has worked on more than 320 game titles; to date, they total sales of more than 250 million units and over 10 billion dollars in revenue. No one in the history of the video game industry has ever worked on more titles and projects. In 2008, he was enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records with a two page feature article and interview and currently holds 5 Guinness World Records including the person who has worked on the most commercially released video games and the largest symphony show ever seen live (over 752,000 people in China). In 2012 during the Game Developers Conference he received a Lifetime Achievement Award and is also in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. for his contributions to the game industry. In 2013 he was asked to speak at the TED Conference where he gave his very well received “Video Games – Art in Disguise” speech. In 1994, he founded Tommy Tallarico Studios, the multimedia industry's largest audio production house. In video games, television, film, radio, soundtracks, toys and even on floats in the New Years Day Rose Parade in Pasadena CA, Tallarico’s music has been heard by hundreds of millions of people around the world. Tommy is a cousin of rock star legend Steven Tyler (nee Tallarico) and in 2002 Tallarico’s music was used as the opening song for Aerosmiths' “Girls of Summer” world tour. His top titles include Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Disney’s Aladdin, Spider-Man and Metroid Prime as well as top selling popular game franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man, Guitar Hero, Madden Football, Mortal Kombat, Time Crisis, Unreal, Lineage, James Bond, Blitz Football, The 7th Guest, Knockout Kings, Test Drive, Scooby Doo, WWE & Twisted Metal. His score for Advent Rising has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others. Tallarico is the creator of the beloved Roblox "Oof" sound which became a worldwide sensation and arguably the most famous pop culture sound of the 21st century garnishing billions of views from memes and YouTube videos around the world.
Tallarico has been featured on numerous national and international television shows, appearing repeatedly on CNN, FOX and MTV. Tommy hosted, wrote and co-produced the top rated and very popular Reviews on the Run/Judgment Day television show as well as the longest running award-winning video game television show, The Electric Playground, which was on the air from 1997 - 2018. The show was syndicated worldwide and aired daily in prime-time. The Electric Playground won the 2001 Telly Award for “Best Entertainment Cable Program”. In 2006, Tommy hosted and helped to launch the worldwide Championship Gaming Series for DirecTV. His national television debut came in 1994 when he was featured and asked to guest host ABC's "In Concert" television program which included artists Peter Gabriel and Todd Rundgren. From 1991 to 1994, he headed Virgin Interactive’s music and video division, and executive produced numerous video game green screen shoots for films including “Demolition Man” where he worked with Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Hollywood producer Joel Silver.
In 2002, Tallarico created the critically acclaimed Video Games Live (www.videogameslive.com), an immersive, audio and video concert experience celebrating video games. Video Games Live features music from the greatest video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world combined with synchronized video footage, lasers, lights, special effects, interactivity and live action to create an explosive and unique one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Video Games Live is the first and most successful video game touring concert in the world having performed over 500 shows in 42 countries on 5 continents. The debut performance was launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic. Over 11,000 people attended making it the biggest video game concert in the world at that time (since then they have broken that record numerous times including 2 SOLD OUT shows at the Bird’s Nest National Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China in 2016). Most of the game music played during the initial launch of the show (Halo, Sonic, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, Myst, Kingdom Hearts, Tron, Metal Gear Solid, Advent Rising, etc.) had never been performed live anywhere in the world. Since then over 3 million people have experienced the show live. On October 30, 2005 they broke new ground once again by putting on the very first video game concert in Canada (Vancouver). They followed with groundbreaking first ever game concert performances in countries such as Brazil, New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, England, Chile, Argentina, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, Poland, Wales, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Hungary, Austria, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland & France. Video Games Live was also the very first American video game concert to perform in Asia (Korea) and the first non-Japanese game concert to perform in Japan. In 2007 they were recipients of a major industry award in Brazil for "Special Breakthrough Achievement" following their performances in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo the year before. Also in 2007 they helped to launch the $1.8 billion LA Live Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and had their national television debut on Spike TV from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. In 2015 they won the Best Outdoor Culture Event Award from the Dallas/Ft. Worth newspaper. In 2008 they released the highly anticipated album entitled Video Games Live - Volume One, recorded at the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London, the album debuted at #10 on the Billboard charts. It was the first video game compilation album to ever be released worldwide and won BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM awards from IGN.com and the Game Audio Network Guild. In 2010 a 90 minute national PBS Special was aired in over 90 million households across America. A Blu-Ray, DVD and album were released. It was the first time that music from franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Sonic and Megaman were released outside of Japan. The second album (entitled Video Games Live: LEVEL 2) debuted at #8 on the Billboard Charts. LEVEL 3, LEVEL 4, LEVEL 5 and LEVEL 6 have followed to great acclaim and raised over $1 million on Kickstarter. With literally 100’s of ticket buyer reviews on Ticketmaster.com, Video Games Live boasts an impressive and outstanding 4.6 (out of 5) rating. There are currently over 500,000 unique videos of Video Games Live performances on YouTube which total over 150 million views. Sponsored and endorsed by some of the top corporations in the world, the Video Games Live concert event continues to tour the world, break new ground and thrill audiences worldwide with new content each year.
Tallarico was the first musician to release a video game soundtrack worldwide (Tommy Tallarico’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1 – Capitol Records). He has released 18 video game soundtrack albums since, including the highly acclaimed James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies, MDK and award-winning Advent Rising and Earthworm Jim Anthology. Tommy was one of the first musicians to ever use live guitar and 3-D audio in a video game (The Terminator), and was instrumental in bringing true digital interactive multi-channel 5.1 surround to the gaming world. He has written, produced, performed and recorded with a wide range of talented musicians including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Studio Symphony, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the English National Ballet, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the National Taiwan Symphony, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Polish National Orchestra, the Budapest Chamber Choir, the band “Fear Factory", composer/DJ/artist BT and guitarists Dweezil Zappa and Steve Vai. In 2016 he produced BT’s epic “Electronic Opus” album and live show. He continues to work with a plethora of GRAMMY and Academy Award winning producers and engineers. He has performed and sold out shows on the biggest and most prestigious stages in the world including multiple shows at the Hollywood Bowl, the Bird’s Nest National Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China, Red Rocks in Colorado, The Bell Centre in Montreal, London's Royal Festival Hall and Hammersmith Apollo, the Olympic Park Stadium in Korea, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., WolfTrap, Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Pan-Chiao Stadium in Taipei, the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and many more. In 2004 he performed the grand finale music act on national and worldwide television (E! Entertainment, G4TV) with BT & Mobius 8 for the G-Phoria awards show. In 2007 he performed along with Kid Rock and the Foo Fighters during the nationally televised Spike TV Video Game Awards show.
Tommy is the founder and Chairman of the Board (Emeritus) of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), which is a non-profit organization educating and heightening the awareness of audio for the interactive world (www.audiogang.org). With over 2,500 members representing over 50 countries since its inception in 2002, G.A.N.G. has quickly become known as one of the strongest and best examples of helping the game industry community. Each year during the Game Developers Conference Tommy produces the annual G.A.N.G. awards revered by many as one of the best award shows in the industry. Tommy is an Advisory Board member for the Game Developers Conference, a Governor for the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS/GRAMMY's), a spokesperson and member of the Entertainment Consumers Association, a proud member and speaker for the International Game Developers Association and a nominating peer panel leader for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
Tallarico has been featured in a myriad of magazines and newspapers, including USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Billboard, the Hollywood Reporter, the London Times, Rolling Stone, Daily Variety, Forbes, Fortune, Playboy and the Chicago Tribune. In 1999, he helped secure official recognition of video game music by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and the GRAMMY's. Also in 1999 he co-designed the award-winning boxing game “Knockout Kings” for the Nintendo 64 with Electronic Arts which went on to win the “Best Console Sports Product of 1999” by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
Tommy has consulted for Fortune 500 companies such as Intel, Sony, AMD, Microsoft and Apple as well as audio companies including DTS, Dolby, Roland, THX, Yamaha and Creative Labs. He has given lectures and speeches all over the world on audio and video games which include his keynote at the 1999 Game Developers Conference, and MILIA 2000 in Cannes, France. He also teaches courses and has been the guest speaker at many schools, organizations & universities such as Yale, UCLA, USC, Berklee College of Music, Carnegie Mellon, Expressions College, Vancouver Film School, Full Sail University and Link Campus University in Rome, Italy.
Tommy is involved in many community, non-profit, scholastic and charitable organizations which include the Hollywood Arts and GRAMMY In The Schools. In 2007, Tommy's many charitable works were recognized by the Hollywood Arts organization when they chose him as the first honoree and recipient for their now annual Dream Awards. The IDG video game industry white paper mentions Tommy (along with Bill Gates) as one of the people who contributed the most to the advancement and growth of the industry in 2003. In 2009, he received the prestigious "Ambassador Award" during the Game Developers Choice Awards which was only the 2nd time the award had ever been bestowed. That same year he was chosen as one of the Top 50 Game Industry People by Game Developers Magazine. ABC did a feature story in 2015 calling him the “person who changed the video game industry”.
Born February 18, 1968 and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, he moved to Southern California on his own at age 21 to pursue a career in entertainment. Homeless with no means of financial support, Tommy was discovered in a music store and started working in the video game industry within 3 days of arriving in California. All 4 of his grandparents came to America from Italy in the early 1900's and instilled a great sense of hard work, compassion, appreciation, passion, dreaming, creativity, sense of accomplishment and love for others that he has carried with him his entire life. Tommy is a proud vegan and has been a spokesperson, supporter and contributor for many animal rights organizations. In his spare time he enjoys nature, photography, traveling, backgammon, watch collecting, cooking, practicing and learning magic, video games, comic books, Italian sports cars, baseball, Formula One, being a kid and meeting new people. He lives in Orange County, CA with his wife Shannon and their dogs Houdini, Nova, Luna and horse Rocky. His website www.tallarico.com has received over 250 million hits by more than 10 million unique users.
