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Roy Thomas Baker, the iconic producer who worked on Bohemian Rhapsody with Queen has died at home at the age of 78. The news was confirmed by his publiciist in a statement but no cause of death was given. He died on April 12 but the news has only just been made public. He enjoyed a long career working with artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Free, Journey, The Cars, Yes and the Smashing Pumpkins.
However he was best known for his work helping to produce Queen’s nearly six-minute-long opus Bohemian Rhapsody. In a 2005 interview with The New York Times he said that the song was “ageless” because “it didn’t confine to any given genre of music.”
“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,” he said.
Tributes flooded in for the music legend on X. “Thank you for making my music world richer Mr. Roy Thomas Baker. Rest in peace,” one wrote.
“Another rock and roll legend, producer Roy Thomas Baker, passes. Baker made massive contributions to so many of rock’s best bands, especially Queen, and The Cars, and his genius will be missed. Rest in peace,” another added.
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“Roy Thomas Baker, the producer who helmed seminal works by Queen and The Cars, has died at 78. While many will point to his work on “Bohemian Rhapsody”, I personally liked how The Cars s/t debut LP ends with ‘Moving in Stereo’ fading into ‘All Mixed Up’,” a third chimed in.
“Godspeed sir. Roy Thomas Baker also worked on @AndyTaylorLives solo works post @duranduran in 1986 including the ‘American Anthem’ soundtrack,” a fourth commented.
“It is possible that no single person had more influence on rock music for over 2 decades than Roy Thomas Baker. He produced a who’s who of rock royalty, including a little band from England named Queen,” a fifth opined.
Born in Hampstead in North London in 1946 Roy began his career at Decca Records in the late 1960s. After making a name for himself he became in-house engineer at the Central London studio Trident, where he first met Queen. After working on the band’s debut album, he went on to produce Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera, which included Bohemian Rhapsody), A Day At The Races and Jazz.
“It [Bohemian Rhapsody] was the first time that an opera section had been incorporated into a pop record, let alone a Number One,” he told told Sound On Sound in 1995. “It was obviously very unusual and we originally planned to have just a couple of ‘Galileos’. But things often have a habit of evolving differently once you’re inside the studio, and it did get longer and bigger.”
In the wake of Queen’s success he moved to New York to work for Columbia Records. while there he produced artists such as Journey, Ian Hunter and Ronnie Wood, before being offered a senior A&R role at Elektra Records.
Speaking about the secret of his success he told MixOnline in 1999: “My whole thing is, the more different you can sound from anything else around but still be commercially successful is great! Over the years, I’ve always hearkened back to that philosophy. Back when I did Bohemian Rhapsody, who would’ve ever thought of having a single with an opera section in the middle?
“If you don’t have that identifiable sound, you are getting merged in. If the DJ isn’t mentioning who it is, then nobody will know who it is. It will just be another band, and nothing is worse than being anonymous. That is exactly what you don’t want.”