Hans Zimmer: 'I'm doing live tour despite my stage fright'

German movie music composer Hans Zimmer 
German movie music composer Hans Zimmer  Credit: EPA

German Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer  says he will press ahead with a live stage tour of his film scores despite his problems with stage nerves.

The 58-year-old, whose credits include scores from blockbusting films such as The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rain Man and Gladiator, will embark on a European tour of 30 cities, starting at Wembley Arena on April 6 2016 and taking in Paris, Berlin and Brussels.

Zimmer told AFP reporter Maureen Cofflard that he was looking forward to the "different adrenaline" of a live show, adding : "I have always had stage fright. I think one of the reasons I like being a film composer is because you have a lot of control."

During his concerts, he plays the piano, guitar and banjo, saying he has "very bad taste in instruments". Zimmer joked: "You can't play 'Sherlock Holmes' or 'Pirates' without a banjo."

Zimmer, who also did the music for Interstellar and 12 Years a Slave, has won two Golden Globes and four Grammys alongside his 1994 Oscar for The Lion King.

And he revealed that he was poised to turn down The Lion King before being swayed by his young daughter. "I didn't want to do animation, I didn't really want to do a kids' movie but my daughter was five years old and like all dads, I wanted to show off," he said. "So I said: 'OK, I'll do it for my kid, it will be easy.'"