Meet Barlow & Bear: The Grammy-Winning Musical Duo Behind the Moana 2 Soundtrack (Exclusive)

‘Moana 2’ hits theaters Nov. 27

As Grammy-winners at ages 23 and 25, there’s no telling how far Barlow & Bear will go.

Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, who are each musicians in their own right, met through sheer serendipity five years ago. Now, not only are they inseparable, but they’ve taken on their biggest project yet: over the last two years they composed the soundtrack for the highly anticipated Moana sequel, out Nov. 27.

“It’s one of those little life decisions that end up changing everything,” says Bear. Barlow adds: “We had a songwriting session together and immediately clicked. It all just fell into place.”

Making the soundtrack for Moana 2 made Barlow & Bear the youngest composers in history to write all the songs for an animated Disney film and the first female writing team to do so. Fittingly, the duo was only a few years older than Moana when they took the project on — and they think she’s “such a badass.”

Before they got together, Barlow and Bear were each making their way in music, with Barlow pursing a career in pop songwriting and building her social media presence. Bear, who’s a pianist, composer and performer, was a child prodigy who Quincy Jones took under his wing and toured as the pianist on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour in 2023.

“We have such different musical backgrounds and view music in completely different ways, which is why it works,” Bear, who scored two films releasing this holiday season, adds. “Because why would you want to collaborate with someone who thinks the same as you.”