Rest in Peace, Producer/Songwriter/Musician Rupert Hine: 1947-2020

Rupert Hine, the acclaimed English songwriter/producer/music advocate known for his work spanning decades and genres, has passed away at the age of 72.

The Ivors Academy, a U.K. composers and songwriters collective that featured Hine as a board member, confirmed the news on Friday:

We are so saddened to post that our Board Director Rupert Hine has passed away.

Rupert played an integral part in shaping the organisation, and his passion, wisdom, inspiration and his immense kindness will be hugely missed.

A full tribute will be up on our website shortly pic.twitter.com/jKFtViLrUF

— The Ivors Academy (@IvorsAcademy) June 5, 2020

Among the many career accomplishments of Rupert Hine, he produced albums for a wide array of acts, including Stevie Nicks, Rush, Thompson Twins, Tina Turner, Bob Geldof, Howard Jones, the Fixx and many more.

Hine’s official website includes an extensive Biography section that lays out his many accolades and accomplishments throughout the years:

His wide-ranging musical perspective and accomplishments – which are both commercial and eclectic – made him the obvious choice to write the foreword for the definitive reference work on music producers: Billboard’s ‘The Encyclopedia Of Record Producers’.

As a songwriter, Rupert’s talents have reached far beyond his own albums. Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Wilson-Phillips and Dusty Springfield are among the million-selling artists who have recorded his songs.

As a composer and musician he has both scored movies and contributed songs in films that include Skolomovski’s ‘The Shout’, cult classic ‘Better Off Dead’ and James Bond’s ‘Goldeneye.’

Rupert has also directed many videos for the artists he has produced.

Here’s an excellent, hour-long interview with Hine from Cherry Red Records in 2019, in which he discusses his career in great detail.

Rupert Hine ….An extraordinary man and one of my dearest longtime friends, my music mentor and producer, passed away in the early hours of this morning. I’m so fortunate to have spent a precious hour with him Tuesday. I will be writing about him on FB soon… luvya Roop !! pic.twitter.com/2lTSa0J35P

— Howard Jones (@howardjones) June 5, 2020

He was a bit of a visionary, as well.

As a leader rather than a follower when it comes to technology, Rupert pioneered electronic musical instrument interfaces with the fledgling MIDI. Invited by Apple in the 90s to help demonstrate the powers of their ground-breaking software engines to the music-world’s creative thinkers, Rupert has consistently championed the incorporation of the digital environment into art and creativity.

He is a founder member of the Music Producers Guild, the International MIDI Association and a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the US. In 2011 he received an APRS Fellowship Award from the legendary Sir George Martin.

Rupert has been Chair of, and currently sits on, the Songwriters Committee of BASCA and The Ivor Novello Awards Committee. He is currently Chair of The Gold Badge Committee and sits on the Board of BASCA also.

Billboard also has a detailed rundown of his achievements in music, making it clear that his is a huge loss for the music community.

Other production credits from the decade include Stevie Nicks’ The Other Side of the Mirror, as well as albums by the Thompson Twins, Underworld, Saga and Chris De Burgh, among others. He also linked up with progressive rock heroes Rush for a two-album run that included 1989’s Presto and 1991’s Roll the Bones.

In the 1990s, Hine worked on albums with Bob Geldof and French artist Éric Serra, as well as releases by actresses Katey Sagal and Milla Jovovich. One of his biggest hits of the decade arrived in 1996, when he produced the self-titled debut album by Duncan Sheik, which included modern rock radio staples “Barely Breathing” and “She Runs Away.” The pair teamed up again with 1998’s Humming.

May Rupert Hine rest in peace.