The legendary producer and mixing engineer Bob Clearmountain has lost his home and studio to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The devastating fires broke out on January 7 and have claimed the lives of 16 people to date, with nearly 180,000 residents having evacuated their homes and over 13,400 structures sustaining damages.
Among those to have lost their homes is multiple Grammy winner Clearmountain, known for his work on albums including Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’ and The Rolling Stones’ ‘Tattoo You’, as well as the original broadcast of Live Aid.
As he revealed to the Los Angeles Times, his home and his acclaimed studio Mix This! in the Pacific Palisades area have been destroyed by the fires. Despite having time to pack up three cars with valuables, he was unable to save much of the expensive and immobile equipment in the studio.
Bob Clearmountain, the brilliant engineer & producer who helped define the sound of the 80s, has lost his home & home studio to the fires. 😞 pic.twitter.com/di6jlg2wJq
— Greg Renoff (@GregRenoff) January 11, 2025
“From Sunset Boulevard, I could see flames up on the hill and smoke. I thought, ‘Well, I’m sure the fire department’s gonna be there pretty soon,’” Clearmountain said. “The news said the wind was blowing in the other direction, so I kind of assumed they’re going to contain it pretty soon. But a few hours later, my daughter called me and said, ‘You’ve got to get out of there.’”
“We grabbed everything we could think of. I had some some things that Bruce Springsteen had given us; he had done a little one of his little stick-figure doodles for my wife’s 50th birthday, which I thought, ‘Well, that’s something pretty special.’
“But we just figured we’d be back in a few days,” Clearmountain continued. “That once the evacuation order was lifted, we’d just be loading everything back into the house. It really didn’t occur to us that this could be the end of our world.”
He went on to say that despite hoping their property might survive, he was informed by a neighbour that the house and studio had indeed been ruined.
The areas destroyed by the fires include a number of music recording spaces, both large and small, and Clearmountain expressed his concern at how the impact will affect the recording industry long-term.
“Maybe there should be a fund. Not for me, because I’m doing fine, but for other studios,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that aren’t as well-off. I can survive, but there are people that that are going to have a really rough time, and they need help. I’d be willing to chip in and help them.”
Among those to have passed away is the former child actor Rory Callum Sykes, who died aged 32 in his home in Malibu on Wednesday (January 8).
Others affected include Paris Hilton, who watched her home burn down on television, as well as James Woods, Billy Crystal, Cary Elwes and Mark Hamill.
Heroes and This Is Us actor Milo Ventimiglia also choked up during a live interview while discussing watching his own house burn down, while a fundraiser for DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith was launched after his house succumbed to the fires.
Mel Gibson‘s house was another victim of the fires, with the actor revealing that it burned down while he was recording his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
A benefit concert for the victims has been announced. Dubbed FireAid, it will take place at LA’s Intuit Dome on January 30, with proceeds going to the rebuild program and to displaced families. No line-up has currently been announced.