Harold Wheeler

• Name — Harold Wheeler • Birth Name — William Harold Wheeler Jr. • Born — 14 July 1943 • Birthplace — St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. • Died — 24 June 2026 • Instrument — Piano • Label — RCA Victor • Past Member Of — The Harold Wheeler Consort

Wheeler first worked in the 1960s as the musical director for Burt Bacharach, making him the first African-American MD of a major pop artist. He also did arranging for Tony Orlando and Nina Simone during that time. In 2004, he served as music conductor for the 76th Academy Awards, becoming only the second African-American conductor in the award show's history. He also was a music arranger on the 79th Academy Awards in 2007. Wheeler was one of two conductors (the others being fellow composers John Williams and Paul Shaffer) during the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was the musical director on ABC's Dancing with the Stars for the show's first 17 seasons. He was replaced by former American Idol bandleader Ray Chew as musical director starting with the show's 18th season in 2014.

Wheeler was born in St Louis, Missouri on July 14, 1943. He attended Howard University, where he met actress Hattie Winston, they were married and had a daughter. He died on June 24, 2026, at the age of 82.

• Promises, Promises (1968) – Musical director, dance arrangements • Coco (1969) – Dance arrangements • Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (1971) – Musical direction and supervision • Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971) – Musical supervisor • Don't Play Us Cheap! (1972) – Musical supervisor • Love For Love (1974) – Featured songs • The Wiz (1975) – Music orchestrations • Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music (1981) – Musical director • Dreamgirls (1981) – Musical supervisor, music orchestrator • Little Me (1982) – Music orchestrations • The Tap Dance Kid (1983) – Musical supervisor, music arranger, vocal arrangements • The Wiz (1984) – Music orchestrations • The Three Musketeers (1984) – Additional orchestrations • Leader of the Pack (1985) – Opening dance sequence composer and orchestrations • Grind (1985) – Additional orchestrations • Dreamgirls (1987) – Musical supervisor, music orchestrations • Carrie (1988) – Musical supervisor, music orchestrations • Tommy Tune Tonite! (1992) – Arrangements and orchestrations • The Life (1997) – Music orchestrations • Side Show (1997) – Music orchestrations • Little Me (1998) – Music orchestrations • Swing! (1999) – Music orchestrations • The Full Monty (2000) – Music orchestrations • Hairspray (2002) – Music orchestrations • Never Gonna Dance (2003) – Music orchestrations • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005) – Music orchestrations • Lennon (2005) – Music orchestrations • Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway (2011) – Arrangements and orchestrations • Side Show (2014) – Music orchestrations • Ain't Too Proud (2019) – Music orchestrations

With Bernard Purdie • Purdie Good! (Prestige, 1971) • Stand by Me (Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get) (Mega, 1971)