Argentine musician Gustavo Santaolalla has been nominated for and won numerous accolades during his career.
After becoming a leading figure in the rock en español movement, Santaolalla caught the attention of filmmakers that led to a career expansion into film scores. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music for The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and subsequently received two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Babel (2006). He also won a Golden Globe Award for the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" from the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack and a second BAFTA Award for the Babel score.
Santaolalla is also known for his musical scores in The Last of Us media franchise, receiving two nominations at the BAFTA Games Awards for the soundtracks of the video games The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020), and a nomination at the Primetime Emmy Awards for his work in The Last of Us television series (2023–present).
Santaolalla has won two Grammy Awards for producing the Café Tacuba's studio album Cuatro Caminos (2003) and Juanes's La Vida... Es Un Ratico (2007). He is also the recipient of 17 Latin Grammy Awards, which include two Album of the Year wins, two Record of the Year wins, and the 2005 Producer of the Year award. In 2023, he received the Latin Grammy Trustees Award.
Awards and nominations Academy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2006 Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain 2007 Babel
BAFTA Awards Year Category Nominated work Result British Academy Film Awards 2005 Best Original Music The Motorcycle Diaries 2006 Brokeback Mountain 2007 Babel British Academy Games Awards 2014 Best Music The Last of Us 2021 The Last of Us Part II
Golden Globes Year Category Nominated work Result 2006 Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain Best Original Song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (from Brokeback Mountain) 2007 Best Original Score Babel
Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2004 Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Cuatro Caminos 2007 Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Brokeback Mountain 2008 Babel 2009 Best Latin Pop Album La Vida... Es Un Ratico 2021 Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Aura
Latin Grammy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2000 Best Rock Album Revés/Yo Soy 2001 Album of the Year Fíjate Bien Best Rock Solo Vocal Album Record of the Year "Fíjate Bien" Producer of the Year 2003 Album of the Year Un Día Normal Best Rock Solo Vocal Album Record of the Year "Es Por Ti" "Frijolero" Best Classical Album Nuevo Best Pop Instrumental Album Bajofondo Tango Club Producer of the Year 2004 Album of the Year Cuatro Caminos Best Alternative Music Album Producer of the Year 2005 Best Rock Solo Vocal Album Mi Sangre Producer of the Year 2006 Best Tango Album Café de Los Maestros Producer of the Year 2007 Album of the Year Residente o Visitante 2008 La Vida... Es Un Ratico Best Male Pop Vocal Album Album of the Year Sino Record of the Year "Me Enamora" "Volver a Comenzar" Best Short Form Music Video "Pa' Bailar" 2011 Producer of the Year 2013 Album of the Year Presente Best Instrumental Album Best Alternative Song "Pena en Mi Corazón" 2015 Best Instrumental Album Camino Producer of the Year 2017 Best Alternative Music Album Jei Beibi 2020 Record of the Year "Solari Yacumenza" Best Norteño Album Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison 2023 Trustees Award 2025 Best Music for Visual Media Pedro Páramo
Primetime Emmy Awards Year Category Nominated work Result 2012 Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Hell on Wheels 2024 Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) The Last of Us (episode: "Long, Long Time")
Other associatons Award Year Category Nominated work Result Annie Awards 2022 Best Music in an Animated Television/Broadcasting Production Maya and the Three 2023 The House Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Awards 2011 Best Original Score Revolución: el cruce de los Andes 2014 Wild Tales Argentine Film Critics Association Awards 2005 Best Music The Motorcycle Diaries 2009 Best Documentary Screenplay Café de Los Maestros Best Music 2010 Bicentenary Award 2015 Best Music Wild Tales Ariel Awards 2001 Best Original Score Amores perros 2011 Biutiful 2025 Pedro Páramo BMI Film & TV Awards 2006 Best Film Music Brokeback Mountain BMI Latin Awards 2008 Icon Award Brazilian Academy Film Awards 2009 Best Documentary Feature Café de Los Maestros Best Soundtrack Best Original Score Linha de Passe CEC Awards 2015 Best Score Wild Tales Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2005 Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain 2006 Babel Clarín Awards 2004 Best Original Film Music The Motorcycle Diaries Critics' Choice Awards 2006 Best Composer Brokeback Mountain 2007 Babel Diosas de Plata 2025 Best Music Pedro Páramo Fun & Serious Game Festival Awards 2020 Best Soundtrack The Last of Us Part II 2020 Best Score and Music Goya Awards 2011 Best Original Score Biutiful 2015 Wild Tales Hollywood Film Awards 2006 Composer of the Year Babel and Brokeback Mountain Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2014 Best Original Score in an Animated Film The Book of Life 2016 Best Original Score in a Documentary Before the Flood 2021 Best Original Score in a Video Game The Last of Us Part II 2022 Best Original Score in a Streamed Animated Film (No Theatrical Release) The House Imagen Awards 2022 Best Music Composition for Film or Television Maya and the Three 2023 The Last of Us 2025 International Cinephile Society Awards 2006 Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2005 Best Score Online Film Critics Society Awards 2006 Best Original Score 2007 Babel Platino Awards 2015 Best Original Score Wild Tales 2025 Pedro Páramo Premios Gardel 2015 Best Instrumental/Fusion/World Music Album Camino 2018 Best Singer-Songwriting Album Raconto 2021 Best Catalog Collection Album Santaolalla (2020 Remaster) Best Cinema/Television/Audiovisual Production Soundtrack Album The Last of Us Part II 2023 The House 2024 The Last of Us season 1 2025 Pedro Páramo Producer of the Year 2026 Best Cinema/Television/Audiovisual Production Soundtrack Album The Last of Us season 2 Producer of the Year San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2006 Best Score Babel Satellite Awards 2005 Best Original Score Brokeback Mountain Best Original Song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (from Brokeback Mountain) 2006 Best Original Score Babel Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards 2024 Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production The Last of Us 2026 SoundTrack Cologne Awards 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award World Soundtrack Awards 2004 Discovery of the Year 21 Grams 2006 Best Original Score of the Year Brokeback Mountain Public Choice Award Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (from Brokeback Mountain) 2015 "The Apology Song" (from The Book of Life) 2025 Television Composer of the Year The Last of Us season 2
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