Stan LePard, Composer on Halo series & Guild Wars 2, passes away

Published , by TJ Denzer

The gaming industry mourns the loss of a legend this week. Over the years, Composer Stan LePard contributed his musical talents to the soundtracks of a wide number of high-profile franchises. Unfortunately, it would appear that LePard passed away suddenly recently.

LePard’s death was announced recently by his friend and colleague, Maclaine Diemer, via the latter’s personal Twitter. According to Diemer, LePard passed quite suddenly last week. No cause of death was cited.

“His passing is a tremendous loss to his family, friends, and the Seattle game audio community,” Diemer wrote. “I'm looking into setting up a donation fund for his family and will announce more details here when I have them. Thank you, Stan, for everything you've done for me. I'll miss you dearly.”

Stan LePard’s contribution to music is vast throughout the gaming industry. His work could be found in the likes of Flight Simulator X, Crimson Skies, Shadowrun, Toy Soldiers, and massive franchises like Halo (Reach and 3: ODST), Destiny, and Guild Wars 2. LePard’s work went beyond gaming too, used in the likes of the Windows platform and the encyclopedia series Encarta. That is to say that it’s very likely one that has spent any time near a PC in decades has probably heard some of LePard’s work at some place or another.

With LePard’s passing, the gaming industry says goodbye to an incredible contributor of fantastic gaming and app music spanning decades. Regardless of one’s opinion on the above cited material, it’s hard to deny many of those projects’ impact throughout the scene, and Stan LePard helped bring life to them through his musical scores.

We will follow this story for any further updates. For all of his hard work and contributions, Shacknews celebrates Stan LePard’s achievements and extends condolences and best wishes to his friends and family in this time.