On this date in 1962, Steven Frank Albini was born in Pasadena, Calif., the youngest of three born to Gina and Frank Albini, high school sweehearts. He started playing bass guitar in high school and started writing about local punk rock bands after graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He founded and performed with the punk band Big Black and was guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Shellac starting in 1992.
Albini’s fame mostly came from his extensive work as a music producer. He produced over 1,000 albums and worked with numerous well-known artists such as Nirvana, Robert Plant, The Stooges, The Pixies and Cheap Trick. Albini was a unique producer in many ways. He preferred not to be credited for his work (or chose to be credited as a “recording engineer” rather than a producer) and not to receive royalties. He founded the Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio and appeared in the documentary “You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984” (2007). Albini was also a chef who wrote a food blog.
“I’m an atheist,” Albini said in a 2011 interview with the website What I Wanna Know. “You could say that I’m agnostic, but that’s just a certain kind of atheist.” He continued, “If I were a gambling man I would put all my money on there not being anything other than this universe.”
Actually, he was a gambling man, his obituary said, noting the two World Series of Poker bracelets he won and his hosting of games at his home. He died unexpectedly in Chicago of a heart attack at age 61. Survivors included Heather Whinna, his wife of 16 years. (D. 2024)
