Richard “Ribbs” Gibbs is an American film composer and music producer whose credits include the films Dr. Dolittle, Big Momma's House, Queen of the Damned and the television series Battlestar Galactica and the first season of The Simpsons.
Musical career
Gibbs was the keyboard player for the new wave band Oingo Boingo from 1980 to 1984. He was also a session player, performing on over 150 albums for artists as diverse as War, Tom Waits, Boy Meets Girl, Living in a Box, Robert Palmer, and Aretha Franklin. His professional relationship with Mr. Palmer began after he wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter of complaint about loud music emanating from Palmer's Bahamian condo, which was immediately next door to the one Gibbs was staying in while working on another project at Compass Point studios. Gibbs started with Michael Jochum the band Zuma II, which had an eponymously titled record released by Pasha/CBS Records. He has appeared live with Korn, The Staples, Chaka Khan, and Oingo Boingo. Like his former bandmate Danny Elfman, Gibbs has embarked on a life of scoring movies and television shows. He has written the scores for over sixty films that have collectively grossed well over $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide and acted as musical director and composer for various television shows, including Muppets Tonight!, The Simpsons, and Battlestar Galactica. He has worked extensively with actress-comedian Tracey Ullman, on her various projects. His critically well-received collaboration with Jonathan Davis on the songs and score for Queen of the Damned led to a gold record. Gibbs produced the second full-length record for the Warner Bros. Records band Eisley, "Combinations." Pre-production took place in Tyler, TX, home of the band, and tracking took place in Malibu in his studio The Woodshed in mid-September 2006. The record was released on August 14, 2007. He also found the time to serve as music director and arranger for Korn's appearance on MTV Unplugged, broadcast in February 2007. He produced the record of that event, which arrived in February as well. His most recent projects include scoring the multiple award winning drama Face to Face for Battlestar Galactica and Queen of the Damned director Michael Rymer. He produced former Mr. Mister band member Richard Page's solo disc "Peculiar Life" and is currently producing a collection of songs by an adventurous new band, Purple Mountains Majesties. He consistently works with directors Betty Thomas, John Schultz, along with the aforementioned Michael Rymer, and Tracey Ullman. Gibbs' songwriting and theme credits include "Until the Stars Fall", the theme to the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, the Muppets Tonight! theme, and the aforementioned Queen of the Damned songs. The Queen of the Damned songs were co-written and produced with Jonathan Davis; the songs were reperformed for the CD release by Chester Bennington, Marilyn Manson, David Draiman, Jay Gordon, and Wayne Static. His state of the art ocean view Malibu studio, Woodshed Recording, has hosted artists and producers such as Barbra Streisand, U2, Sting, Pink, Lenny Kravitz, Max Martin, Foster the People, Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth, Walter Afanasieff, and Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds.
Personal life
Gibbs earned an Associate of Arts degree from Daytona Beach Community College while still enrolled as a senior in high school. He went on to matriculate with bachelor's degree in classical composition from Boston's Berklee College of Music before moving to California. He and his wife Linda have three children, photographer/filmmaker Keegan Gibbs, mathematician Riley Gibbs, and jewelry designer Katelin Gibbs. Gibbs is on the Board of Directors of Armory of Harmony, a nonprofit which accepts gun donations from across the country and melts them down to make and brand musical instruments for high school and college marching bands and ensembles.
