The widely renowned record producer and audio engineer suffered a heart attack on the night of Tuesday, May 7, and died at the age of 61. The news was confirmed by Albini’s Chicago recording studio, Electrical Audio, who implored the music community to share their fond memories of him to help process the loss "and keep his spirit alive."
Albini produced some of the most influential alt-rock albums of his generation. Among his prolific credits: Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, Nirvana’s In Utero, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, Jawbreaker’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, Cloud Nothings’ Attack on Memory, Laura Jane Grace’s Stay Alive and self-titled albums by Ty Segall and Trash Talk.
Albini was also a member of bands Big Black and Rapeman early in his career as lead singer and guitarist. Since 1992, he was the founding frontman of pioneering post-hardcore trio Shellac; their sixth album, To All Trains, is scheduled to drop on Friday, May 17. The LP is complete and made up of recordings produced by the band from 2017 to 2022. It's not yet clear whether Albini’s death will alter the album's planned release date.
Along with the rest of the music world, Texas recording artists have honored Steve Albini with touching tributes on social media this week. In a particularly touching memorial, Dallas-bred super-producer John Congleton credited Albini with helping him transition out of homelessness and starting his career: "Steve Albini literally brought me in from the streets of Chicago in 1997. I was a vagrant living illegally in the dorms of DePaul, dreaming of making records. I was homeless and then I was not," posted Congleton when the news broke.
The Toadies revealed they’d been in sessions at Electrical Audio with Albini as recently as a few weeks ago, which they called "a lifetime dream come true."
North Texas record producer and Steve Albini collaborator Britt Robisheaux reflected on his first exposure to Albini’s work at a young and formative age. "Like many others, my first introduction was in middle school when one of the guys brought a copy of At Action Park to band practice. I tripped into the rabbit hole that day and never came out."
Funeral information for Steve Albini has not been released to the public.
