Rock producer Chris Tsangarides dead at 61

Chris Tsangarides: 1956-2018
Chris Tsangarides: 1956-2018

Rock producer Chris Tsangarides has died at the age of 61, it’s been announced.

The news was confirmed by his daughter Anastasia on Facebook, who said he died of heart failure after battling pneumonia.

Tsangarides’ first work was as a sound engineer on Judas Priest’s 1976 album Sad Wings Of Destiny and he went on to produce albums including Gary Moore’s Back On The Streets, Thin Lizzy’s Thunder And Lightning, Priest’s Painkiller and Black Sabbath’s The Eternal Idol.

He was also behind the desk for Bruce Dickinson’s debut solo album Tattooed Millionaire.

Tsangarides also collaborated with dozens of other artists, including Anvil, Exodus, Girlschool, Helloween, Ian Gillan, Steeleye Span, Strawbs, Killing Joke, Yngwie Malmsteen, Magnum, The Sisters of Mercy, New Model Army and Depeche Mode.

Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi paid tribute to Tsangarides on Twitter, saying: “I’m so saddened to hear of the passing of the producer Chris Tsangarides – he has been a part of my life since the 70s when he worked as tape operator on the Sabbath album Sabotage and he’s worked with me on lots of other albums and stuff. He’ll be sadly missed. RIP my friend.”

Judas Priest added: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Chris Tsangarides – his contributions to our metal and so many others will forever remain. Love and condolences to his family.”

Read further tributes to Tsangarides below.

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Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.