Roy Thomas Baker, Queen and the Cars Producer, Dies at 78

Roy Thomas Baker, the London-born producer whose career began in the early ’70s, has died. According to a press release by his publicist, Baker died on April 12 at 78.

The press release notes that Baker died at his home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and that the news “was just revealed by his family. The cause of death has not been established.”

Baker is best known as the producer of Queen‘s classic 1975 album A Night at the Opera, including the hit single “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the Cars‘ 1978 self-titled debut and Journey‘s first two albums with Steve Perry, 1978’s Infinity and 1979’s Evolution.

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He was born in Hampstead, London, and started his music career at the city’s Decca Studios when he was 14. Soon, he was an engineer at Trident Studios for Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti.

During that time, he engineered records by Dr. John, Yes, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Dusty Springfield and many others.

Among his earliest successes as an engineer was his work on Free‘s “All Right Now” from 1970 and T. Rex‘s 1972 single “Bang a Gong (Get It On).”

In 1973, Baker began a working relationship with Queen, producing much of their self-titled debut album. Over the next several years, he worked on their 1974 follow-up, Queen II, and Sheer Heart Attack, also from 1974, A Night at the Opera and 1978’s Jazz.

Queen drummer Roger Taylor said that Baker “brought a certain amount of discipline and a lot of cynicism and a passion for fattening desserts. … He was very disciplined and very strict in the beginning … he would always get it right. The take had to be right.”

Who Did Roy Thomas Baker Produce?

By decade’s end, Baker had racked up production credit on some of the era’s most popular albums, including two albums by Journey, the Cars’ first two albums (plus two more in the ’80s) and Foreigner‘s Head Games.

“Roy was one of the pieces of the puzzle that made the Cars what they became,” guitarist Elliot Easton said. “He didn’t belabor anything or take things overly seriously. He was fun to work with, a mirthful guy whose affect was kind of Monty Pythonesque.”

He stayed busy in the ’80s, working on records by Alice Cooper (Flush the Fashion), Cheap Trick (One on One), Motley Crue (Too Fast for Love) and Ozzy Osbourne (No Rest for the Wicked).

Baker was promoted to Elektra Records’ A&R department in the ’80s, where he helped sign artists such as Metallica, Simply Red and 10,000 Maniacs to the label.

Over the next few decades, Baker produced records by the Darkness, the Smashing Pumpkins and others. His last production credit is for Yes’ 2014 album, Heaven & Earth.