Legendary rock producer and engineer Roy Thomas Baker has died, aged 78.
Baker died on April 12, but his spokesperson has only now shared the news publicly, per The New York Times. A cause of death was not shared.
Roy Thomas Baker was best known as the producer of iconic rock acts such as Queen, Journey, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, The Cars, Devo, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper and more.
Baker began his career in music as a secondary engineer at Decca Studios in London, where he aided in the engineering on albums from the likes of David Bowie, The Who, The Rolling Stones and more under the name Roy Baker. He eventually worked up the ranks to become chief engineer, working on T. Rex’s ‘Bang a Gong’ and Free’s ‘Alright Now’.
Soon after, he moved over to Trident Studios in London’s Soho district, where he became close to and began working closely with an up-and-coming Queen. He would produce their 1973 self-titled debut album and the next year’s follow-up before turning his attention to Hawkwind, Robert Calvert, Man and The Trammps for a bit.
He would then return to working with Queen on their third and fourth records, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ and ‘A Night at the Opera’, the latter of which spawned the iconic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
After the explosion of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Roy Thomas Baker produced for acts like the glam band Jet, Pilot, Dusty Springfield and The Cars. In 1978, he’d return to work on Queen’s seventh album, ‘Jazz’, which featured ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.
Following ‘Jazz’, he would produce for Journey, Foreigner, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Devo, Mötley Crüe’s ‘Too Fast for Love’, Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘No Rest for the Wicked’, The Darkness, The Smashing Pumpkins‘ ‘Zeitgeist’ and ‘American Gothic’, and more in between before wrapping up his career with Yes‘ ‘Heaven & Earth’ in 2014.
Elsewhere in his esteemed and storied career, Roy Thomas Baker worked for Elektra Records in the late ’70s and early ’80s, executive producing for Lindsey Buckingham, Joe Lynn Turner, Josie Cotton and more while still continuing his work with Queen and The Cards.
He also took on an A&R role at Elektra and during his tenure signed acts like Metallica, Yello, Peter Schilling, Simply Red and more.
