Roy Thomas Baker, who was among the most successful record producers of the 1970s and 1980s and who helped produce Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” one of the most unconventional pop hits, died on April 12 at his home in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. He was 78.
His death was announced by Bob Merlis, a spokesman, who said in a statement that the cause was unclear.
In addition to Queen, Mr. Baker collaborated with other well-known bands like the Cars, Journey, Mötley Crüe and Foreigner while working as a producer and sound engineer at several recording studios over the course of his career.
He is perhaps best known for helping to produce the nearly six-minute-long “Bohemian Rhapsody.” In an interview with The New York Times in 2005, Mr. Baker 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,” said Mr. Baker, who produced the song with Queen. “We didn’t know it was going to be quite that big. I didn’t realize it was still going to be talked about 30 years later.”
Roy Thomas Baker was born on Nov. 10, 1946, in Hampstead, England. He began his career at Decca Studios in London in 1963, working as a second engineer to Angus Boyd (Gus) Dudgeon, an English record producer who would later become known for his collaborations with Elton John; and Tony Visconti, an American producer who went on to work with David Bowie and Marc Bolan.
Mr. Baker’s projects included recordings by Ten Years After, Dr. John, the Moody Blues, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and the Who. He was a chief engineer on the hits “All Right Now” by Free and “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” by T. Rex.
Mr. Baker met Queen in the early 1970s, when he was working for a company called Trident and went to look at a new studio complex in London. The band was just starting out and was recording free demo tapes in exchange for helping the new studio test its sound, Mr. Baker said in a 1979 interview.
Mr. Baker produced Queen’s first four albums. The band’s debut, called simply “Queen,” was recorded during Mr. Baker’s downtime as an experiment, because he wanted to be more involved with production work, he said.
He also worked for Columbia Records in the United States, and he produced recordings by artists including Journey, Ian Hunter, Ronnie Wood and Reggie Knighton with his company, RTB Audio Visual Productions. He also helped produce the Cars’ first four albums; the first included the hits “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Good Times Roll.”
Mr. Baker is survived by his wife, Tere Livrano Baker, and his brother, Alan Baker.
In the 1979 interview, Mr. Baker said he didn’t really know if there was such a thing as his “sound,” because he didn’t listen to his own work.
“I didn’t think there was,” he said, “but people tell me, ‘It sounds like you did it — nice and big and loud.’”
A complete obituary will follow.
Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.
Sara Ruberg covers breaking news and is a member of the 2024-25 class of Times Fellows, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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