Questlove has led the tributes to Tom Coyne.
The renowned mastering engineer – who has worked with artists including Beyonce, Mark Ronson, Britney Spears, Common, George Michael, Adele and Amy Winehouse – passed away this week at the age of 62 and a number of stars rushed to pay tribute to him.
Questlove took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to his late friend, whose cause of death has not yet been revealed.
He wrote: "Man this hurts. The only dude I let master all of my product #TomCoyne passed away. Coming to his mastering studio was always my fav part of making records. He was so patient w me ESPECIALLY the way the I get down with sequencing and segue timing on albums. He knew I placed songs in rhythm like they were being spun at a club so damn near every Roots album would take an unusual 40 hour process. Not to mention all of those album intros listen to #ThingsFallApart’s "Act Won" intro w MoBettaBlues dialogue–it was his idea to match the Roots commentary w Denzel/Spikes dialogue "if we had to depend on black people to eat we would starve to death/everybody wake up" "you see everybody but our people/ghead w yourself" "it incenses me/BDAHADAHDADHADA!!!!!"—he suggested it would be cool if you guys had sound bites from your own work that mirrored what the dialogue was saying. But man ALL my records and Common’s albums and D’angleo—-matter of fact I forgot we used Tom because he friggin did all the classic records.
"His ears were bar none THE BEST. All of #KoolAndTheGang’s post Ladies Night albums, #BillyOcean’s Suddenly album. #Whodini’s Escape & the 1st #FatBoys lp. #SexPackets by #DigitalUnderground. #BDP’s #Edutaiment & #SexAndViolence all the #DeLa classics all the #Tribe classics #93ToInfinity #Reachin #WolfInSheepsClothing #BlowoutComb #ReturnToThe36Chambers #LiquidSwords #OnlyBuilt4CubanLinx (his stories from this mastering session about them acting out THE ENTIRE Killer movie will be the GREATEST studio story I’ve ever heard) #MrSmith #ItWasWritten #Embrya #12Play #LoveDeluxe #MamasGun Brittany Robyn Beyonce 1Direction, Maroon5, Macklemore & Ryan, Pink, Mary J, Ronson, Taylor Swift—I forgot even Hamilton!!! This guy was the pair of ears we trusted to bring the music to you.
"Much love to his family and his children. For friggin at least 20 albums I’ve driven you crazy & learned so much about how people hear music (tip: most of the time we’d use a cheap clock radio speaker because if it sounds great on Horrible equipment then imagine how it bumps elsewhere!) thank you for all the lessons you’ve taught me Tom Coyne!!!! Music Will Never Be The Same Again (sic)."
Mark Ronson also tweeted: "so sad to hear the news about Tom Coyne, the legendary mastering engineer. so talented and kind. he’ll truly be missed by many of us (sic)."
And DJ Premier wrote: "Rest In Peace to Tom Coyne…One of the most Legendary Mastering Engineers of our Era for HIP HOP Labels and Black Music Period… (sic)."
Questlove leads tributes to Tom Coyne
