In his more than 50-year career, John Boylan has served as the connective tissue between some of the most culturally significant albums of the last 50 years. Plus, he helped make a lot of great music.
Boylan, who will be inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum at Nashville’s Fisher Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday (April 28), co-produced Boston’s 1976 self-titled first album, which remains one of the best-selling debut albums of all time and ushered in a new melodic hard rock sound.
He also was one of the producers of the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, which spurred a country music and line dancing explosion in the early ‘80s mainstream.
As manager of Linda Ronstadt (a role he has held off and on and is currently on), he put together her first backing band, introducing Glenn Frey and Don Henley to each other. With her blessing, they left to form the Eagles in the early ‘70s.
Boylan has produced and/or co-produced more than 50 albums for acts ranging from Pure Prairie League and Little River Band to Charlie Daniels Band, Carly Simon and Quarterflash. He won a Grammy in 1999 – best musical album for children – for producing Elmopalooza!, which featured artists including Jimmy Buffett, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and the Fugees singing with Sesame Street characters.
Boylan also served as a VP of A&R for Epic Records and has worked on a number of film and television projects beyond Urban Cowboy, including Footloose and The Simpsons. He is currently co-producing a biopic on Ronstadt starring Selena Gomez.
He’ll be joined on April 28 by fellow inductees Dann Huff, Dolly Parton, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Keith Urban, Leland Sklar, Michael McDonald and Nicky Hopkins (posthumously).
Below, Boylan talked about five of his most influential projects. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.
