According to several reports, including confirmation to Consequence and Pitchfork, the legendary record producer Steve Albini has passed away due to a heart attack. He was 61 years old.
An iconic figure in the alternative music industry, serving as a musician, producer, audio engineer, and founder/owner of Electrical Audio recording studio in Chicago, IL, Albini was born on July 22, 1962, in Pasadena, CA. Albini worked on some of the most well-known albums across more than three decades, including Pixies’ debut album Surfer Rosa (1988), Nirvana’s In Utero (1993), Frank Iero and the Future Violents’ Barriers (2019), Laura Jane Grace’s Stay Alive (2020), among many others.
In addition to his contributions as a producer and audio engineer, Albini was the founding vocalist and guitarist of Shellac, releasing their debut album, At Action Park, 30 years ago in 1994. While Shellac has not released a new studio album since 2014’s Dude Incredible, their 10-track new album To All Trains is slated to arrive on May 17, 2024. According to the Bandcamp page for the album, this will mark the group’s sixth studio album, which was recorded and mixed at Albini’s recording studio in Chicago across several years, including 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022. The record was mastered by Shellac’s bassist/vocalist Bob Weston and Albini.
Reports are unclear as to the exact date of Albini’s passing, with some outlets reporting yesterday, May 7, and others reporting today, May 8. This is a developing story.