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Extra.ie
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Tributes pour in as music industry icon dies at 78
Roy Thomas Baker, producer of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', has died aged 78. He died at his home in Arizona on April 12, though his family have only just announced the news. No cause of death was given. Born in London, 1946, Baker began working in recording studios at 14. He worked as an apprentice engineer at Decca Studios, which witnessed then-budding star David Bowie, the beginnings of Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, The Who and other greats of the era. He would later work at Trident Studios, where he would collaborate with Queen on their 1973 debut. Baker went on to co-produce the rock icons' albums Queen II , Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera , which featured 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. ''Bohemian Rhapsody' was totally insane, but we enjoyed every minute of it,' Baker said in a 1999 interview. 'It was basically a joke, but a successful joke.' 'The middle part started off being just a couple of seconds, but Freddie kept coming in with more 'Galileos' and we kept on adding to the opera section, and it just got bigger and bigger,' he added. Queen would produce A Day at the Races and News of the World themselves, bringing Baker back to work on their 1978 record Jazz . Outside of his work with Queen, Baker would produce albums for artists like Journey, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Darkness, Foreigner and many more. He would also produce The Cars' first four records; The Cars , Candy-O , Panorama and Shake It Up . 'Roy taught me a lot about handling band personalities,' The Cars' Ric Ocasek said in 2016. 'He was an electronics whiz, a sound guy with a classical background for mic-ing the room's sound.' 'He got harmony,' he continued. 'And he took things in stride – a very upbeat, elegant man. Spontaneous too.'
Perth Now
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody producer Roy Thomas Baker dead at 78
Queen's producer Roy Thomas Baker has died aged 78. The studio wizard was best known for his lengthy working relationship with the British rock legends, having produced five of their albums, including 1975's 'A Night at the Opera', which featured the timeless classic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. He died in Lake Havasu City, Arizona on April 12, per his publicist. No cause of death was given. Queen's drummer Roger Taylor previously recalled how "strict" Baker was in the studio, noting how much of a perfectionist he was. He said: "I think he brought a certain amount of discipline and a lot of cynicism [laughs], and a passion for fattening desserts. But no, he was very disciplined and very strict in the beginning. But he would always get it right. The take had to be right. We would do a lot of takes sometimes before it was right. Because things were very different then, you know, you had to get it all right, all at once.' Baker always knew 'Bohemian Rhapsody' would be a hit, despite some skepticism that it was too long at nearly six minutes. He told the New York Times: "I thought it was going to be a hit. We didn't know it was going to be quite that big. I didn't realise it was still going to be talked about 30 years later." 'Bohemian Rhapsody' proved critics wrong and remained at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks, and later re-entered the chart following the death of late great frontman Freddie Mercury in 1991. Baker notably produced The Cars' albums, Mötley Crüe's debut studio album 'Too Fast for Love', and worked with David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Guns N' Roses, and Ozzy Osbourne. He is survived by his wife, Tere Livrano Baker, and brother, Alan Baker.
