Geoff Emerick Has Died

There’s some sad news coming from William Zabaleta: The Beatles audio engineer, Geoff Emerick, has died. Zabaleta was Emerick’s manager, and he was on his way to pick him up when things started to go wrong. While chatting on the phone, Emerick appears to have dropped it. At that point, Zabaleta called the emergency services, but by then it was too late.

Zabaleta was on his way from Arizona to Los Angeles to pick up Geoff so they could transport some gold records and platinum plaques to our show in Tucson. He then says, “So Geoff suffered from heart problems for a long time. He had a pacemaker, and when it’s your time, it’s your time. We lost a legend, a best friend to me, and a mentor. That’s all I can say on the matter.

Shortly after, Zabaleta posted a video on YouTube confirming rumours that Geoff Emerick has died. Geoff Emerick has died of a heart attack at the young age of 72.

In short, Geoff Emerick leaves behind a great legacy. In fact, Emerick was the sound engineer on Beatles’ albums such as, “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Revolver,” and “Abbey Road.” Obviously, with that pedigree, Emerick was a star. Emerick also worked with Kate Bush, Elvis Costello and Ultravox.

Geoff Emerick: Background

Birth Name: Geoffrey E. Emerick
Born: December 5, 1945, in Crouch End, North London, United Kingdom
Died: October 2, 2018 (age 72) in Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation: Audio engineer
Years active: 1960-2018

Geoff Emerick has died as a sound engineer with The Beatles. — Geoff Emerick and Paul McCartney in the studio.

Ringo Starr Says:

These words are from Ringo Starr:

“I am so sorry and shocked to hear about Geoff Emerick. He was a great engineer, very helpful to all of us in the studio. With him and George Martin they helped us step up on Revolver. Barbara and I send peace and our love to his family. Peace & love, Ringo xxx”

Paul McCartney Says:

Paul McCartney also had a few words to say:

“Geoff had a sense of humour that fitted well with our attitude to work in the studio and was always open to the many new ideas that we threw at him. He grew to understand what we liked to hear and developed all sorts of techniques to achieve this.

He would use a special microphone for the bass drum and play it strategically to achieve the sound that we asked him for. We spent many exciting hours in the studio and he never failed to come up with the goods.”

Giles Martin Says:

George Martin’s son, Giles Martin, says:

“RIP [Emerick], one of the finest and most innovative engineers to have graced a recording studio. I grew up with him, as he worked so much with my father (George Martin). He helped create on the greatest music ever recorded.”