"[A great song] should elicit an emotion, of happiness, or of celebration, or of sadness, or of sorrow, or of love, or of laughter."

• Born July  22, 1949, in New Rochelle, N.Y.
   
• Menken's breakthrough as a composer came in 1979 when he collaborated with Howard Ashman on a musical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Ms. Rosewater, a partnership that would lead to their next musical, "Little Shop Of Horrors." Menken eventually earned an Oscar nomination for the song "Mean Great Mother From Outer Space" from the 1986 film adaptation of Little Shop Of Horrors.
   
• Menken won his first GRAMMY for 1990 for Best Recording For Children for his work composing the music for the 1989 Disney blockbuster The Little Mermaid.
   
• Did you know? Menken initially pursued studies of composition for theater and film only to appease his parents.
   
• In 2016 the film composer visited the GRAMMY Museum for an in-depth discussion of his illustrious career.