Joel Moss, a seven-time Grammy-winning music producer, engineer and mixer, has died at the age of 79. His family confirmed that he passed away on September 15 in Saratoga Springs, New York, though no cause was given.
Born on May 11, 1946, in Detroit, Moss enjoyed a six-decade career working on numerous film scores, including Chicago, Stop Making Sense, Pretty in Pink, Footloose, Sister Act, Sleepless in Seattle, Dead Poets Society and Gorillas in the Mist. He was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Moss earned 11 Grammy nominations, winning Album of the Year for Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company, and additional Grammys for the Chicago film soundtrack, Tony Bennett's Playin' With My Friends – Bennett Sings the Blues, and Broadway cast recordings of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and In the Heights. His other Broadway credits include Hair, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Drowsy Chaperone.
He worked with artists such as The Eagles, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Talking Heads. For the Talking Heads documentary Stop Making Sense, he became the first to transfer analog recordings to 24-track digital.
In recent years, Moss worked at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs as a writer, sound designer and archivist. His family described him as “the biggest mensch in the recording industry who created the best sounds in town.” He is survived by his wife, daughter, grandchildren, brother and sister. A celebration of his life will be held on October 14 at Caffe Lena and livestreamed.
