Known for defining the sound of ‘spaghetti western’ cinema, legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone has died on July 6, 2020, in Rome, Italy, aged 91.

As per a report by The Guardian, Morricone suffered a fall few days prior to his death, breaking his femur, before passing away in a clinic in Rome. His lawyer, Giorgio Assumma, confirmed the news.

Born in Rome in 1928, Ennio Morricone began his career arranging scores for theatre, TV, and radio, eventually being hired by RCA Italy. He was arranged and wrote pop songs for the likes of Paul Anka, Françoise Hardy, and Demis Roussos while maintaining an interest in avant-garde music through his work with the experimental and improvisational collective Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza. In the 1950s, he began ghostwriting film scores, eventually establishing his own names and credits. During the 1960s, he worked with Sergio Leone on the Dollars trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood. His scores were hugely successful, with Morricone’s decision to punctuate his symphonies with sounds like coyote howls and whistles gave them an unconventional edge. He is best known for scoring westerns like A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. However, Morricone’s career was far more wide-ranging, having composed over 500 scores for a variety of genres and worked with a range of pop artists, including the Pet Shop Boys.

Quentin Tarantino, influenced by Morricone’s music, used it in his films like Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglorious Basterds, and Django Unchained, the latter of which also featured an original song by Morricone. The Hateful Eight’s music was also scored by Morricone, which earned him an Oscar for Best Motion Picture Score, his first Academy Award after numerous career nominations. He was given a lifetime achievement award in 2007.