Industry

Legendary Rock Producer Jack Douglas Passes Away at 80

Jack Douglas, the renowned rock producer behind iconic albums like John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy” and Aerosmith’s “Rocks,” died Monday at 80. His extensive work in the 70s and early 80s also included Cheap Trick’s debut and Pat

Variety Music·May 12, 2026·via Variety Music

Legendary Rock Producer Jack Douglas Passes Away at 80

- Home - Music - News

May 12, 2026 1:48pm PT

Jack Douglas, Producer for John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and More, Dies at 80

By Jem Aswad

Plus Icon

Jem Aswad

Executive Editor, Music

jemaswad

Latest

- Jack Douglas, Producer for John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and More, Dies at 80 4 minutes ago

- Exclusive Preview: ‘Paul McCartney & Wings’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Exhibit 7 hours ago

- Beatles Museum to Open at 3 Savile Row, Iconic London Location of ‘Get Back’ Rooftop Concert 1 day ago

See All

- - - - - -

- - - - - - -

Jack Douglas , a top-flight rock producer whose work in the 1970s and early 1980s included John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Double Fantasy,” Aerosmith ’s “Rocks” and “Toys in the Attic,” Cheap Trick’s debut album, Patti Smith’s “Radio Ethiopia” and more, died on Monday, according to a social media post from his family. No cause of death was cited; he was 80.

A native of the Bronx borough of New York City, Douglas started out as a folk musician in the early 1960s and worked on Robert F. Kennedy’s 1964 senatorial campaign as a songwriter. He soon changed gears to focus on studio work, attended the Institute of Audio Research and took a job at the just-opened Record Plant in midtown Manhattan — starting out, like so many budding engineers, as a janitor. But he soon found his way behind the consoles and worked as an engineer on recordings by Miles Davis, the Who, the New York Dolls, Alice Cooper, Joe Walsh’s James Gang, Mountain, and others. He also worked on John Lennon ’s “Imagine” album, striking a friendship with the former Beatle that would culminate with their work on “Double Fantasy” in 1980.