Keith Olsen

May 12, 1945 – March 7, 2020

Back in the 1990s, the credit ‘produced by Keith Olsen’ represented not only a massive selling point for a record but also a hallmark of quality. In that decade Olsen was at the controls for Whitesnake’s multi-platinum US breakthrough album 1987 as well as hugely popular records by Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Heart, Sammy Hagar, Starship, Rick Springfield, Santana, Joe Walsh, Pat Benatar, Bad Company, Night Ranger, The Babys and more.

Born in South Dakota in 1945, Olsen became a musician before moving to Los Angeles, where he produced the first album from Lindsey Buckingham and Steve Nicks as Buckingham Nicks, and introduced them to Mick Fleetwood, which led to the pair joining Fleetwood Mac.

Also in the 1970s he produced records for the James Gang, the Grateful Dead and Foreigner, among others, while in the 90s he stepped back from production and helped to develop surround sound mixes. A list of over 100 albums including 39 gold, 24 platinum, and 14 multi-platinum-sellers places him among the all-time greats.

Cause of death remains unconfirmed (some reports say he passed on March 9).

“Keith produced many iconic albums, including our album Crazy World, which was such an inspiring journey,” said the Scorpions. “Songs like Wind Of Change and Send Me An Angel had the Keith Olsen touch on every note.”

Rick Springfield recalled Olsen immediately selecting his now best-known song, Jessie’s Girl, from a selection of 15, but had disagreed with the decision. “Keith didn’t produce all those hits for all those musicians for no reason,” Springfield wrote on Twitter. “He had a golden ear and helped so many people reach their potential.”