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Roy Thomas Baker

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Roy Thomas Baker
Baker at the piano in Whitfield Street Studios in London, January 2002
Baker at the piano in Whitfield Street Studios
in London, January 2002
Background information
Also known asRTB
Born(1946-11-10)10 November 1946
Hampstead, London, England
Died12 April 2025(2025-04-12) (aged 78)
Lake Havasu City, Arizona, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • arranger
Years active1970–2025
Labels
WebsiteRoyThomasBaker.com

Roy Thomas Baker (10 November 1946 – 12 April 2025) was an English record producer, songwriter and arranger who produced rock and pop songs.[1]

Life and career

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Baker was born in Hampstead, London on 10 November 1946.[2][3] He began his career at Decca Records at 14 and later worked as an assistant engineer at Morgan Studios in London.[4] Encouraged by music producer Gus Dudgeon, he soon moved to Trident Studios in Soho where he worked with Dudgeon, Tony Visconti, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards in addition to Frank Zappa. He recorded artists including The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Gasolin', Nazareth, Santana, The Mothers of Invention, Jet, Be Bop Deluxe, Free, and T. Rex.[2]

After co-founding Neptune (Trident's record company), Baker met the rock band Queen. Thus began a relationship lasting for five albums (Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera, and Jazz) and a number of awards including 21Grammy Awards and several Guinness World Records for the hit song, "Bohemian Rhapsody".

After his success with Queen and other artists, Baker signed a multi-album production deal with CBS Music (Columbia Records, Sony Music, Epic Records, etc.). He proceeded to move to the U.S. and set up RTB Audio Visual Productions in New York City and Los Angeles. With the CBS deal, RTB produced Journey, Starcastle, Reggie Knighton of the Grass Roots), Ian Hunter, and Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones). Also at the time, he committed to produce four albums for the Cars after being prompted by Elektra Records to see them perform in a Boston school gymnasium. The albums were certified platinum and The Cars were nominated for a Grammy.

He was offered the post of senior vice president of A&R for Elektra as executive and/or producer with recording artists Lindsey Buckingham, Mötley Crüe, Joe Lynn Turner, Josie Cotton and Dokken as well as continuing with Queen and the Cars. During his tenure, Elektra signed artists Metallica, Simply Red, Yello, Peter Schilling, The World, and 10,000 Maniacs.

Baker also worked with The Cars, Guns N' Roses, Alice Cooper, Foreigner, Pilot, Ozzy Osbourne, Devo, The Stranglers, Dusty Springfield, T'Pau, Local H, Cheap Trick, and Lewis Furey. In 2005, he produced One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back by The Darkness; the Smashing Pumpkins' 2007 album, Zeitgeist; The Storm's 2008 album When the Storm Meets the Ground, the Smashing Pumpkins' American Gothic and One Karma's 2011 album Life Got in the Way. Baker produced Yes' 2014 album Heaven & Earth, 35 years after previously working with the band on sessions in Paris which did not lead to an album.[5]

Baker died in Lake Havasu City, Arizona on 12 April 2025, at the age of 78.[6][7]

Discography

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Discogs. Single and Album Discography and Biography: Roy Thomas Baker". Discogs. 1 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b Clerc, Benoît (20 October 2020). Queen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-7123-2.
  3. ^ Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (22 November 2019). Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. ABC-CLIO. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-4408-6579-4.
  4. ^ Massey, Howard (2015). The Great British Recording Studios. Lanham, Maryland, US: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-4584-2197-5.
  5. ^ "Lords of Metal ezine". Lordsofmetal.nl. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  6. ^ Gallucci, Michael (22 April 2025). "Roy Thomas Baker, Queen and the Cars Producer, Dies at 78". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  7. ^ Sweeting, Adam (28 April 2025). "Roy Thomas Baker obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
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