Steve Albini dead: Legendary rock producer passes away aged 61

Legendary music producer Steve Albini, best known for recording with Nirvana, has passed away aged 61. 

Albini died from a heart attack on Tuesday, May 7, his music studio staff told Pitchfork. 

He led a storied decades-long career in the studio, while also performing as a frontman for Big Black and Shellac, the latter he was reportedly releasing an album with next week as they prepared for an upcoming tour. 

The producer was credited for his role in the rise of alternative rock and punk music in the 80s and 90s, also including work with the Pixies, Jarvis Cocker, and PJ Harvey. 

Legendary music producer Steve Albini, best known for recording with Nirvana, has passed away aged 61

Outside the studio Albini performed as a frontman for Big Black and The Shellac, the latter he was reportedly preparing an upcoming tour with before his death 

Despite his success in the recording studio, Albini's later career was also marked by his outspoken criticism of the music industry. 

He notably took aim at predatory practices from music executives, arguing that young bands are often lured into exploitative deals early in their careers. 

Albini was known for his preference to the term 'music engineer' over producer, and left his mark on iconic music from the grunge era - including recording Nirvana's album 'In Utero.' 

Those that worked with him said he was not afraid to show his distaste at the music he was producing, and he famously described the Pixies in 1988 as 'four cows more anxious to be led around by their nose rings.' 

In the weeks before his death, Albini had been preparing to tour with his band Shellac, and the band had recorded their first album in a decade that is scheduled for release next week. 

Born in California, Albini grew up in Missoula, Montana with a 'normal' childhood - that he said all changed when a friend introduced him to The Ramones as a teenager. 

'It was the first time I felt like there was any part of culture that represented the irreverence and goofiness and kind of mania that my friends and I were displaying,' he recalled to The Guardian. 

From there, he began recording with Big Black, while ostensibly seeking controversy with his work, including a short stint with the band name 'Rapeman', a title he said he later regretted.  

Known for bringing a raw, high-energy sound to his work, Albini was influential in the rock and metal scenes for decades 

Albini (seen performing in June 2023 in Spain) courted controversy throughout his career, and later said he regretted some of his actions taken 'from an ignorant position' 

In his early producing work with bands such as Slint and The Breeders, he rose to prominence with his high energy, raw productions that became better known with artists like Nirvana. 

In the 1980s, his alt-rock sound saw him work on the early albums of Jesus Lizard, and he went on to 'engineer' hundreds of albums in subsequent decades.  

The music producer lived in Chicago with his wife, film director Heather Whinna. 

In an interview with AV Club in 2000, he revealed he suffered from a deformed right leg as a result of a car accident when he was 18. 

Despite spending decades with grunge rockers like Kurt Cobain, Albini also revealed in 2022 that he avoided drugs and alcohol, particularly because of his father's struggle with alcoholism. 

He told Noise Delays Recovery that he felt 'extremely lucky' not to have fallen into the pits of addiction. 

'I don't like the taste of alcohol, don't like being drunk, and never liked any of the drug states I've experienced enough to prefer them over being straight in the moment with clarity,' he said. 

Aside from music, he was also noted as a successful poker player, once winning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet in a 2022 competition where he won over $196,000 in prize money, beating 773 other players.  

In 2018, he also reportedly won a poker tournament that netted him over $105,000. 

Despite spending decades with grunge rockers like Kurt Cobain, Albini revealed that he avoided drugs and alcohol, particularly because of his father's struggle with alcoholism

Albini became synonymous with controversial work early in his career, producing songs such as 'Pray I Don't Kill You F*****' and naming one of his bands, 'Run N***** Run', according to Pitchfork. 

In his later years he would apologize for some of his offensive antics, tweeting in 2021: 'A lot of things I said and did from an ignorant position of comfort and privilege are clearly awful and I regret them. 

'It’s nobody’s obligation to overlook that, and I do feel an obligation to redeem myself.

'I’m overdue for a conversation about my role in inspiring ‘edgelord’ s***. Believe me, I’ve met my share of punishers at gigs and I sympathize with anybody who isn’t me but still had to suffer them.' 

Albini used his prominence in the music scene to call out what he saw as exploitative practices among recording studios. 

Writing for The Baffler in a now-famous article around the punk scene called 'The Problem with Music', he declared that 'all that's required to be a full-fledged 'producer' is the gall it takes to claim to be one.'