**Taurees Habib Becomes First Pakistani Sound Engineer to Win a Grammy and Launches Solo Career with “Cannibal Cathedral”**
Pakistani-American sound engineer Taurees Habib has quietly made history, becoming the first Pakistani sound engineer to win a Grammy Award and only the second Pakistani ever to receive this prestigious honor. Born in Karachi, Habib received the accolade earlier this year in February at the 2025 Grammy ceremony hosted by Trevor Noah.
His award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (including film and television) recognized his significant contribution to Hans Zimmer’s acclaimed score for Denis Villeneuve’s *Dune: Part Two*. Although the win was announced in February, Habib chose to make the achievement public only on September 30, when the golden gramophone finally arrived at his home.
Revealing the accomplishment on Facebook, he wrote:
*“I’m so incredibly honoured to have received this for my work on Dune: Part Two and to be the first Pakistani to receive this for engineering and only the second Pakistani ever to win a Grammy. It’s crazy to walk into my living room and see this thing just sitting there.”*
He also shared an Instagram video unboxing the trophy. “So, something happened this February, and I haven’t really talked about it. It felt like one of those things better shown than said,” he shared before lifting the trophy out of its packaging and placing it on the table.
Habib credited his colleagues for bringing Hans Zimmer’s vision to life:
*“I’m so lucky to have gone along for the ride with all the people on our team who put their blood, sweat and tears into making this possible.”*
For Habib, the Grammy represents another milestone after more than a decade of dedication and hard work. Having worked as a sound engineer for Hans Zimmer for 12 years, he has been credited in the music departments of over 40 productions since 2013. His notable credits include *Interstellar* (2014), *Blade Runner 2049* (2017), *Dunkirk* (2017), *No Time to Die* (2021), *Top Gun: Maverick* (2022), *Kung Fu Panda 4* (2024), and *F1: The Movie* (2025).
However, this award does not mark the end of his story. 2025 also marks the beginning of Habib’s solo career with the release of *Cannibal Cathedral*, his first single under his own name. The track blends industrial and rock elements with a cinematic atmosphere, signaling his transition from sound engineer to musician.
A press release described the song as “Trent Reznor and Alex Turner colliding inside a David Lynch fever dream.” The result is a sound that is both original and impressive. With *Cannibal Cathedral*, Taurees Habib has stepped into the spotlight on his own terms and onto our playlists.
Taurees Habib’s younger brother, Ziyad Habib, is well-known in Karachi’s indie music scene. Ziyad was a member of Karachi’s indie group Mole, which released two albums and performed on Coke Studio in its fourth season. After Mole, he pursued music under the moniker Noah’s Heark and founded Hear Now Records.
The RBMA alumnus currently works as a Technical Production Lead at Dreamtek.
Here’s hoping we hear a lot more from the Habib brothers in the near future.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1348542-the-force-from-the-beginning
