Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫, Uematsu Nobuo; born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his work on the "Final Fantasy" video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, citing English singer-songwriter Elton John as a major influence on his decision to pursue music. Uematsu joined the video game company Square in 1986, where he met game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi. Their collaboration led to Uematsu composing music for numerous titles, most notably in the "Final Fantasy" series, for which he became widely recognized. After nearly two decades with the company, he left in 2004 to establish his own production company and record label, Dog Ear Records. As a freelance composer, he has continued to work on video game soundtracks, including projects for both Square Enix and Sakaguchi’s studio Mistwalker. Uematsu’s compositions have been featured on numerous soundtrack and arranged albums, and his works are regularly performed at orchestral concerts dedicated to video game music. He has collaborated with conductor Arnie Roth and producer Thomas Böcker on several of these events. In addition to his composing career, Uematsu was the keyboardist for the rock band The Black Mages during the 2000s, which performed rock arrangements of his "Final Fantasy" pieces. He later formed Earthbound Papas in 2011 as the spiritual successor to that group. Uematsu has frequently appeared in the Classic FM Hall of Fame in the United Kingdom, where he has been described by the station as the “Beethoven of game music.”