BBC sells legendary Maida Vale studios which played host to The Beatles and David Bowie to top movie composer Hans Zimmer for £10m
- Hans Zimmer, 65, has created scores for Hollywood movies including Gladiator
- He snapped up the studios in Maida Vale, North-West London for £10.5million
- The building went on sale last year after the Corporation said it would relocate
The BBC’s recording studios –which have played host to British superstar musicians including The Beatles and David Bowie –have been bought by German composer Hans Zimmer for just £10.5 million.
The 65-year-old, who has created scores for Hollywood movies including Gladiator, Inception and The Lion King, snapped up the Grade II-listed building in Maida Vale, North-West London, through his music production and publishing company 14th Street Music in recent weeks.
The building – which the BBC bought in 1933 – went on sale last November after the Corporation announced in 2018 that it intended to relocate to purpose-built music recording and rehearsal studios in Stratford, East London, from 2025.
Sources suggest that the Oscar-winning composer will use it as a British base to write major film scores, expanding his company from its current home in Santa Monica, California.
One said: ‘It is a real coup. The building is beautiful and it is so rich in history. It’s the kind of place that anyone who is passionate about music loves to spend time in. It is special.
Hans Zimmer, 65, has created scores for Hollywood movies including Gladiator and Inception
‘And it appears that vibe will continue with Hans taking it on.’
READ MORE: Hans Zimmer, 65, proposes to hotelier girlfriend Dina De Luca on stage
Engaged! The composer, 65, asked his girlfriend for her hand in marriage (pictured in 2018)
The building, made up of seven sound studios, is regarded by many in the showbusiness industry as the UK’s mecca of music.
Artists including Jimi Hendrix, Beyoncé and Radiohead have performed there, while Bing Crosby made his last recordings in the building. John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 sessions and Peter Clayton’s Sounds Of Jazz were broadcast in the building too.
The studio was given a Grade II listing in 2020, which should mean that any redevelopment by its future owners will be behind the existing, white-rendered Edwardian facade.
Originally a roller-skating palace, the building in Delaware Road was converted into the studios in 1933 and became home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra a year later.
They went on to be used to record music and drama sessions for BBC radio stations from 1946 to the present day.
When the news of the sale was announced last year, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich took to Twitter to say: ‘Don’t destroy this beautiful studio!!! There are so few of these places left and this particular room is steeped in history.’
Zimmer appears to have a special bond with Britain. Just under two weeks ago he proposed to his partner Dina De Luca on stage at London’s O2 Arena during one of his shows there.
Ms De Luca – a film and TV producer, as well as the co-owner of New York’s five-star hotel The Lowell – accepted.
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