Rock Producer Jack Douglas Dies at 80

Jack Douglas, the iconic music producer who worked with the late  as well as Aerosmith, has died at the age of 80.

The family of Douglas, who worked with the late frontman on the December 1980 day he was killed, posted a statement on informing the public of the producer's death.  

'He passed away peacefully on Monday night,' his family said. 'As many of you who follow him know, he produced great music, and lived a colorful life.'

Relatives of Douglas encouraged fans to leave memorials in an adjacent comment thread.

'We know that he touched many of your lives; we would love to hear more about that in the comments,' the statement read.

Douglas - who also worked with musical artists such as , the late Miles Davis, Cheap Trick and Blue Öyster Cult - 'will be missed,' his family said.

Douglas detailed his climb up the music industry ladder on the 2023 podcast Takin' a Walk, as he got a job as a custodian at the New York City studios Record Plant.

'I wanted to be a producer and a composer, and the funny thing was, while I was the janitor at night, I was also a client, because I was scoring the original ABC after-school specials for the producer Danny Wilson,' he said. 

He added, 'So at night I would be a client and in the daytime I was the janitor, but you know, I would beg other engineers if I could just sit in on their sessions so I could learn, and I worked my way up.'

Douglas said he continued working as an assistant engineer and also collaborated on demos with artists, one of whom was future superstar Billy Joel, assisting in the demo recording that led Columbia to sign the Piano Man artist in 1972. 

The creative revealed on the podcast that his first run-in with Lennon came at the studio.

'The door opens and John comes into the room and I nearly peed myself, because I didn't think I would be having contact with him,' he said. 'And he sits down, he says, "Okay if I hang out in here? I'm just looking for a place that's not so noisy."'

They began chatting and a personal and professional relationship formed, with Douglas working on Lennon's albums Imagine and Double Fantasy. 

With Aerosmith, Douglas produced on albums such as 1974's Get Your Wings, 1975's Toys in the Attic, 1976's Rocks, and 1977's Draw the Line.

Douglas said the way he 'approached' his work with the Boston-based rock staple was to 'listen to the band first of all.'

He added, 'My job is to make a band's dreams come true, not mine.'

Yoko Ono took to Instagram on Tuesday to pay memorial to her late friend.

'Rest in Peace, Jack Douglas,' she said.