Legendary Alt-Rock Producer Steve Albini Dead At 61

Legendary rock producer Steve Albini, who produced Nirvana’s In Utero, Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, and other classic alt-rock albums, has died of a heart attack at the age of 61. Staff at Albini’s recording studio, Electrical Audio, confirmed his death to Pitchfork.

Known for his unique DIY approach to recording and his opposition to industry norms, Albini began his career in music fronting the bands Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac, the latter of whom were set to release their first album since 2014, To All Trains, next week. He later became one of the industry’s most sought-after producers and was hired by Nirvana to produce the band’s third album. Kurt Cobain said he chose Albini because he had produced two of his favorite records, 1988’s Surfer Rosa by the Pixies and 1990’s Pod by the Breeders. He went on to produce several thousand records for a wide range of artists including PJ Harvey, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (as Page and Plant), Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Superchunk, Bush, The Stooges, Cheap Trick, and Foxy Shazam.

Despite earning widespread acclaim as a record producer, Albini rejected the term, preferring instead to be credited as a recording engineer. This distinction highlights his unique approach to collaboration: Rather than controlling the recording process and “producing” the music for the artist, he intentionally put artists in the drivers seat and saw himself as a technician, ready to solve whatever problems might arise in the recording process. He also refused to take royalties from the recordings he produced for other artists.

In addition to music, Albini had a penchant for poker and won the World Series of Poker‘s $1,500 Seven Card Stud tournament in 2018. He is survived by his wife, filmmaker Heather Whinna.

This is a developing story…