Composer Hans Zimmer has purchased the BBC's iconic Maida Vale studios for a £10 million, reports UK paper The Daily Mail. The building, which the BBC bought in 1933 and has been host to thousands of sessions over the years, including The Beatles, Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, The Clash, Nirvana, and 24 John Peel Sessions with The Fall alone, was put on sale last fall. The BBC announced in 2018 that it was relocating its studio to a custom-built facility that they plan to open in 2025.
According to the Daily Mail, Zimmer will keep the North London space a recording studio, expanding his company beyond his current studio on Santa Monica. This wasn't a given. When the news broke last year that Maida Vale was up for sale, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich wrote on Twitter, "Don't destroy this beautiful studio!!! There are so few of these places left and this particular room is steeped in history."
Zimmer's film score credits include Gladiator, Inception, No Time to Die, and Dune.