<Tr> <Td> Vox </Td> <Td> (10 / 10) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Sputnikmusic </Td> <Td> 5 / 5 </Td> </Tr> <P> The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 1994 Disney animated film, The Lion King . It contains songs from the film written by Elton John and Tim Rice, and a score composed by Hans Zimmer . Elton John has a dual role of performer for several tracks . Additional performers include Carmen Twillie, Jason Weaver, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Jeremy Irons, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Sally Dworsky . The album was released on May 30, 1994 on CD and audio cassette . The soundtrack was recorded in three different countries: the U.S., the U.K. and South Africa . It is the best - selling soundtrack album to an animated film in the United States with over 7 million copies sold, with 4,934,000 copies sold in 1994 . </P> <P> An expanded version of The Lion King soundtrack, featuring 30 minutes of previously - unreleased material, was released as part of the Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection series on June 24, 2014 . In 2014, Hot Topic released a vinyl picture disc of the soundtrack . </P>

Who wrote the lyrics for the lion king