Bob Rock | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Rock presenting at the2009 Juno Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Robert Jens Rock (1954-04-19)April 19, 1954 (age 71) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Origin | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954)[1] is a Canadianrecord producer,recording engineer, and musician.
In 1976, Rock joinedLittle Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer andsound mixer. During his time there, he collaborated with producerBruce Fairbairn, engineering and mixing several influential rock albums, includingLoverboy'sGet Lucky (1981),Bon Jovi'sSlippery When Wet (1986), andAerosmith'sPermanent Vacation (1987).
Rock and singer-songwriterPaul Hyde formed the bandPayola$ in 1978. Payola$ were best known for the single "Eyes of a Stranger", from their 1982 albumNo Stranger to Danger, an album that won the band fourJuno Awards. The pair also recorded together in 1987 under the nameRock and Hyde. In 1991, Rock released an album with the bandRockhead.
Some of Rock's most notable works as a producer include the rock albumsDr. Feelgood byMötley Crüe (1989),the Cult'sSonic Temple (1989), andMetallica's 1991self-titled album, often referred to as theBlack Album. Each of these albums is the top-selling record for its respective band, and Metallica and the Cult each went on to collaborate with Rock on four subsequent albums.
Rock has received twenty-sevenJuno Award nominations across various categories. In addition to the four Juno Awards he won for his work with Payola$, he won theRecording Engineer of the Year in 1982, and won theProducer of the Year award in 2000, 2005, and 2010. He was inducted into theCanadian Music Hall of Fame in 2007 and won aGrammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his work onMichael Bublé's albumTo Be Loved at the56th Annual Grammy Awards held in 2014.
Rock was born inWinnipeg,Manitoba, and moved with his family toVictoria, British Columbia, at 12 years of age.[1][2] He attended Colquitz Junior High School and played in various bands.[2] He regularly attended all-ages performances at such nightclubs as Club Tango, the Purple Onion, and Ninth in the Fifth.[2] In his early days he was fan of British blues-rock bands such asThe Yardbirds,Cream, andLed Zeppelin.[2]
Rock went toBelmont High School located inLangford, a Victoriasuburb, and it was there that he met futurePayolas bandmatePaul Hyde.[2] Influenced by musical artists such asDavid Bowie,Slade,T. Rex,Alex Harvey, andBe-Bop Deluxe, the pair formed the Paul Kane Blues Band and touredVancouver Island in the mid-1970s.[2][3]
In 1976, Rock landed a job as an apprentice recording engineer atLittle Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver and became acquainted with Vancouver's punk scene while working on tracks for punk acts, such as theYoung Canadians,The Dils, and thePointed Sticks.[2][4] In the years that followed, Rock worked with producerBruce Fairbairn, providing engineering and mixing work on the seminal rock albumsGet Lucky (1981) byLoverboy,Bon Jovi'sSlippery When Wet (1986), andAerosmith'sPermanent Vacation (1987).[5]
After his work onPermanent Vacation, Rock decided he wanted to move away from audio engineering to focus mainly on music production.[6] Rock toldBillboard magazine in 1992, "If I didn't take the next step, I realized I'd be engineering the rest of my life. It's a tough gig, engineering, a lot of hours. I had to move on."[6]
The Cult'sBilly Duffy asked Rock to produce their 1989 albumSonic Temple, having admired Rock's work with Bon Jovi andKingdom Come.[6] The album reached the Cult's highest chart position in both the US and the UK.[7] It also marked a longtime relationship with the band, as Rock went on to produce their albumsThe Cult (1994),Beyond Good and Evil (2001),Choice of Weapon (2012), andHidden City (2016). The band's frontman, Ian Astbury, toldBillboard in 2000, "[Bob Rock is] pretty much the only person qualified to [produce us]. We're extremely strong-minded people, strong-spirited people. And we both have a very strong vision. And to get between [Billy and me] demands a lot of patience and demands a certain amount of strength. The Cult is a very muscular band; there's a lot of power and determination and spirit and a lot of spark. So, from that fire, somebody that can get a hold of that energy and harness it-and put it in the right direction-is the person that's really qualified to be our producer ... He believes in us probably more than we believe in ourselves."[8]
Mötley Crüe's manager,Doc McGhee, who also managed Bon Jovi, recommended Rock to Mötley Crüe for their first album since getting sober,Dr. Feelgood (1989).[9] The band stayed in Vancouver for close to a year in order to work with Rock.[10]Dr. Feelgood went on to become Mötley Crüe's best-selling album and is the only one to reach the #1 spot on theBillboard 200.[10] The album was nominated for two Grammys forBest Hard Rock Performance and won theAmerican Music Award for best heavy metal/hard rock album in 1991.[10]
Having been impressed by his work on Metallica'sself-titled album, Bon Jovi employed Rock to produce their fifth studio album,Keep the Faith (1992).[9] In 1999 plans were made to have Rock and Fairbairn produce their albumCrush, but Fairbairn died later that year and the banded opted to work withLuke Ebbin.[11]
In 1995, Rock relocated toMaui and converted part of his home into his own private music production facility, known as Plantation Studios, three years later.[12] In the 2000s, Rock's production work began to center around his home studio, although he travels to work on larger projects, such as Metallica'sSt. Anger.[12] Rock toldThe Honolulu Advertiser in 2003, "Actually, over the next few years I'm probably going to be weaning myself off of what I do a little bit... And I would really love to be able to get involved more with local music."[12]
While Rock is best known for his work with rock and metal artists, Rock has produced such pop artists asCher,Nelly Furtado,Jann Arden,Sarah McLachlan, andMichael Bublé. His work with Bublé on the albumTo Be Loved (2013) earned him a Grammy Award.[13]
Metallica were fans of Rock's work onDr. Feelgood and asked him to produce their fifth studio album,Metallica, commonly referred to asThe Black Album.[14][15]
The album marked a departure from the band's earlierthrash metal sound and expanded the band's range, at times featuring a slower, softer and more introspective sound, such as on the ballad "The Unforgiven", or on "Nothing Else Matters", which featured acoustic guitar. These two songs also offered new vocal territory forJames Hetfield, whose previous albums mainly showcased harder, more aggressive vocals. Rock toldMusicRadar in 2013 "The thing was, James had songs that he actually had to sing... He didn't know how to sing – all he did before was yell. This was the basis of our friendship. I taught him what I knew. We took the time to get the record to what they wanted and what I wanted."[16]
Up untilMetallica, the band members were used to recording their parts separately, which were later mixed together.[15] Rock and recording engineerRandy Staub convinced the band to record thelead single "Enter Sandman" while all four performed in the same room.[15] Rock's son provided the voice of the child reciting the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" bedtime prayer in the song.[15]
Metallica debuted in the #1 spot on theBillboard 200 and won theGrammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the34th Annual Grammy Awards.[5][17] In December 2019, it became the fourth album in American history to enter the 550-week milestone on theBillboard 200.[18] In 1999,SPIN magazine ranked it at #52 on their list of "The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90s";[19] it was ranked at #25 onRolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017, as well as #235 onRolling Stone's 2020 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time."[16][20]
Rock went on to produce the band's albumsLoad (1996),ReLoad (1997), as well as the new material for the band's cover album,Garage Inc. (1998), and their albumSt. Anger (2003).[9][21] Rock wrote and played all of the bass guitar parts onSt. Anger, following the departure ofJason Newsted in 2001.[22] Rock was also the bassist for the band's few live performances untilRobert Trujillo joined the band in February 2003.[22][23] Rock was featured prominently in the 2004 documentary filmMetallica: Some Kind of Monster that dealt with Metallica's internal strife and their struggles with the creative process during the recording ofSt. Anger.[22]
In 2006, Metallica chose producerRick Rubin to produce their ninth studio album,Death Magnetic, ending the band's long-time relationship with Rock.[5] Their decision to part ways with Rock was due in part to requests by their fan base, who had posted an online petition with over 1,500 signatories who felt that Rock had too much influence over the band's sound.[5]
At Metallica's 30th Anniversary Concert on December 10, 2011, Rock joined the band on stage, and performed bass alongside Trujillo on the songs "Dirty Window" and "Frantic".[24]
After being hired byLittle Mountain Sound Studios in 1976,Paul Hyde followed Rock to Vancouver and in 1978 they formed thePayola$.[25] Hyde was the band's vocalist, Rock played guitar. Rock and Hyde were the only mainstays over the band's history, having changed bassists and drummers several times.[26]
The band released their first single, "China Boys", in 1979, and attracted the attention ofA&M Records.[25] A year later their four track EPIntroducing Payola$ was released by A&M.[27] The band released the albumIn a Place Like This in 1981.[28] The album was produced by Rock, and was a critical success, but didn't do well commercially.[29][30]
The band attracted the attention of famed British songwriter and producerMick Ronson, who produced Payolas' 1982 albumNo Stranger to Danger.[29] The album included the hit single "Eyes of a Stranger", which won the Juno Award for best single.[31] Junos were also given to Rock and Hyde for their songwriting, Rock was awarded Recording Engineer of the Year, and the band as a whole wonMost Promising Group.[31]
In 1987, the band (who had by then changed their name to Paul Hyde and the Payolas) again changed their name to Rock and Hyde and had two hit singles in Canada with the song "Dirty Water", which made it to #20 on theRPM Hot 100 chart, and "I Will", which peaked at #40.[32][33] In 2007, the Payolas became briefly active once more as a touring and recording act, releasing theEPLangford Part One.[26][34]
In 1991, Rock formed the bandRockhead with ex-Payolas drummer Chris Taylor.[6] The band released one self-titled album in 1992 and two singles before splitting up.
Rock produced the five finalist songs ofCBC Sports'sHockey Night in Canada Anthem Challenge in late 2008.[35][36]
Lustre Parfait, a studio album by Rock andThe Tragically Hip frontmanGord Downie, was released in 2023, five years after Downie's death.[37] The album features songs that the pair created together between 2009 and 2016.[37] Downie sang and wrote the lyrics for all songs on the album. Rock wrote the music, played guitar and produced the tracks, in addition to providing backing vocals, keyboards and percussion on some tracks.[37][38] Rock was profoundly impacted by Downie's death in 2017 and took a break from the project for several years.[37]
In 1985, producer and songwriterDavid Foster helped assemble thesupergroup, Northern Lights, to record the song "Tears Are Not Enough" to raise funds for relief of the1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia.[39][40] Hyde was one of over 50 musicians featured on the song and Rock served as one of theengineers.[39] Rock and Hyde came up with the song's title and contributed to the French lyrics along withRachel Paiement.[39][40]
Rock executive-produced the album the 2005War Child benefit albumHelp!: A Day in the Life.[5] The album included the Payolas track "At Angels Feet" and the band performed at the One X One child poverty benefit gala in Toronto the following year.[5]
Rock has been nominated for 27Juno Awards in various categories over his career, including "Recording Engineer of the Year", "Composer of the Year", and "Producer of the Year".[31] He has won nine Junos for both his work with Payola$ and Rock and Hyde, as well as his recording and production work with other artists.[31]
At the 2007 Juno Awards ceremony, he was inducted into theCanadian Music Hall of Fame by theCanadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) for his lifetime contribution to popular music.[31]
In 2014, Rock won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his work onMichael Bublé's albumTo Be Loved.[13]
The Juno Awards are awarded annually to Canadian musicians by theCanadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "When It's Over", "It's Your Life" byLoverboy | Recording Engineer of the Year | Won |
| 1983 | No Stranger to Danger byPayola$ | Recording Engineer of the Year | Won |
| Worlds Away byStrange Advance | Recording Engineer of the Year | Nominated | |
| Payola$ | Most Promising Group of the Year | Won | |
| Eyes of a Stranger by Payola$ | Composer of the Year | Won | |
| Single of the Year | Won | ||
| 1984 | Payola$ | Group of the Year | Nominated |
| Hammer on a Drum by Payola$ | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| 1987 | "Wanted Dead or Alive" & "Livin' on a Prayer" byBon Jovi | Recording Engineer of the Year | Nominated |
| Bob Rock andPaul Hyde | Composer of the Year | Nominated | |
| Rock and Hyde | Group of the Year | Nominated | |
| Bob Rock and Paul Hyde | Canadian Entertainer of the Year | Nominated | |
| 1989 | "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi | Recording Engineer of the Year | Nominated |
| 1990 | Dr. Feelgood byMötley Crüe &Blue Murder byBlue Murder | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 1992 | "Enter Sandman" by Metallica & "Primal Scream" by Mötley Crüe | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 1993 | "Bed of Roses" & "Keep the Faith" by Bon Jovi | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2000 | "She's So High" & "If You Sleep" byTal Bachman | Producer of the Year | Won |
| 2001 | "Spy" & "Just Another Phase" byThe Moffatts | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2002 | "Flavor of the Weak" byAmerican Hi-Fi & "Make It Right" byEconoline Crush | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2003 | "Somewhere Out There" byOur Lady Peace & "Take Me As I Am" byTonic | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2005 | "Welcome to My Life" & "Me Against The World" bySimple Plan | Recording Engineer of the Year | Nominated |
| "Welcome to My Life" by Simple Plan & "Some Kind Of Monster" by Metallica | Producer of the Year | Won | |
| 2007 | "In View" & "World Container" byThe Tragically Hip | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| Bob Rock | Canadian Music Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 2008 | "Everything" byMichael Bublé & "Bomb" by Payola$ | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2010 | "Haven't Met You Yet" & "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" by Michael Bublé | Producer of the Year | Won |
| 2012 | "Only the Lonely" onUncover Me 2 byJann Arden | Producer of the Year | Nominated |
The Grammy Awards were established in 1958 by theNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States awarding the best in the music industry.
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | To Be Loved by Michael Bublé | Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album (a joint award with Michael Bublé) | Won |
For much of his music career, Rock lived inWhite Rock, British Columbia.[6] In 1995, he moved with his wife and children toMaui,Hawaii, where he established his own recording studio, Plantation Studios.[12] Rock has six children, two boys and four girls.[41]
[Rock's] passion for music dates back to when he was a youngster agog over the British blues-rock sounds of the Yardbirds, Cream and Led Zeppelin. Rock's family moved to Victoria from Winnipeg when he was 12, and he immediately immersed himself in the local music scene, attending Club Tango, the Purple Onion, Nine in the Fifth and other teen live-music spots. He was in various bands as a student at Colquitz Junior High, but his approach to music changed forever when he met Paul Hyde at a Langford bus stop while both were students at Belmont High School. . . Soon, Rock and Hyde were listening to David Bowie and Slade, and then moved on to various punk acts. In the mid-'70s they toured Vancouver Island under the Paul Kane Blues Band moniker -- a precursor to The Payola$. . . Rock was also producing at the time, mostly punk acts like the Young Canadians, the Dils and the Pointed Sticks. And his reputation as a studio wizard was beginning to spread.
Rock and Hyde came from Victoria with a love of the flamboyant rock of David Bowie, T. Rex, Alex Harvey and Be Bop Deluxe, but they got caught up in the new wave without ever embracing that scene.
Rock had landed a job as an apprentice engineer at Vancouver's premier studio and, along with Ron Obvious, began getting calls from punk bands looking to make quality recordings. "Where I was from, Victoria, there was nothing happening, so I went over to Vancouver and got a job at the studio," Rock says. "Basically, I resigned myself to the fact that nothing was going to happen for me musically. But when I started at Little Mountain in 1976, everything was beginning to bust open because of punk in England."
The one-time punk/goth band mutated into one of Britain's best classic rock groups after a stuttering start way back in the early 1980s. . . Sonic Temple, however, was the record that made them bona fide rock Gods. Released in 1989, it was a beast that earned them their top chart placing on both sides of the Atlantic.
On the 30th anniversary of the glam-metal band's biggest album - 1989's Dr. Feelgood - members Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars look back at the making of the landmark record. . . While the band lost out on a Grammy - despite two nominations for best hard rock performance - it took home an American Music Award for best heavy metal/ hard rock album in 1991. . . At the start of recording Feelgood, Motley Crue opted to swap out longtime producer Tom Werman (Twisted Sister, Poison) for Canadian Bob Rock. . . They relocated to Vancouver for nearly a year to work with Rock at his Little Mountain Sound Studios.
Rock, ... has lived on Maui for the last eight years. For the past five years, his Plantation Studios - a comfortable spread of home, ranch lands and a $1.5 million state-of-the-art recording studio on the slopes of Haleakala - has served as home to almost all of his output. . . After enough Maui vacations to qualify them for kama`aina rates at local hotels, Canadian natives Rock and his wife, Angie, moved with their four children permanently in 1995. Rock's original plan for his Maui lifestyle was to travel for projects and then return home. But that changed quickly enough when Rock brought alt-rock quartet Veruca Salt to Maui in 1996 to steer its "Eight Arms To Hold You" CD. "We ended up throwing my equipment into a house here," recalled Rock. "And they had such a great time and loved it so much that I just converted a part of my house. ... It's as full-on a studio as anywhere in the world. All the best stuff is here. I don't rent it out because, you know, it's my home. But the artists that I work with come."
In 2001, Newsted left the band. . . Bob Rock agreed to temporarily fill in on bass as Metallica began work on "St. Anger," its eighth album. . . Metallica also still needed to find a permanent bassist. Robert Trujillo, a former member of the thrash-punk band Suicidal Tendencies, was invited to audition. . . That evening, Metallica offered Trujillo a place in the band. . . In what might be the most fortuitous timing in the history of documentary film, the directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky had been in place to shoot the making of "St. Anger" for a goofy promotional gimmick—a series of late-night infomercials advertising the new record. Instead, they created a full-length film, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," which was released in 2004.
Rock's relationship with Metallica endured through four more albums, including a stint nursemaiding the group through the fractious making of 2003's St. Anger. A replacement for ousted bassist Jason Newsted had yet to be found, so Rock sat in for the album and some early shows.
By 1978 Rock was working at various Vancouver recording studios while Hyde was bartending when the two recorded "China Boys," winning themselves a deal with A&M Records. The Payola$ were born.
While the band officially called it quits in 1987, core members Hyde and guitarist Bob Rock continued as Rock & Hyde until 1990. . . Rock and Hyde have recently been writing and recording songs for a new Payola$ CD, slated for a year-end release.
About a year ago Vancouver band The Payolas put out an energetic homemade single called China Boys, dealing with China's westernization. Sales were impressive enough to cause A & M records to sign the band and then launch them with another gimmick. Introducing The Payolas is a low priced 12-in EP with four good songs including China Boys.
In a Place Like This was begun at Little Mountain but completed at Le Studio, Andre Perry's state of the hart facility outside Montreal and a neutral setting for The Payolas to develop their material.
Former David Bowie collaborator Mick Ronson produced the band's new LP, played keyboards and sang backup on it, and is serving as the Payolas' extra member on tour. . . Ronson first heard about the Payolas when they were looking for a producer for their first album, In a Place Like This. He heard the tapes and offered to produce, but the Payolas were pressed for time. It was left to Rock, who produced records by the Young Canadians and Pointed Sticks, to twist the dials.
Landing a major producer like Ronson has given the Payola$ a much-needed boost. Their first album was well received critically, but didn't sell well.
The new Payola$ CD, Langford (Part 1). . . "We kinda put this out just to get out there and play these dates and not leave it too long," Rock says.
Lustre Parfait, recorded intermittently between 2009 and 2016 . . . Downie sang and wrote the lyrics. Rock...wrote the music, played the guitars and put it all together . . . After Downie's brain cancer diagnosis, Rock raced to finish the record but failed to complete the work by the time the singer died in 2017. At that point, he stepped away, the emotions too much. "I couldn't deal with it, to be quite honest."
The most unique moment in Canadian entertainment history ended at 2:20 a.m. Monday when the final sustained line -- "Heaven knows that tears are no enough -- of a song call Tears Are Not Enough, crashed out of 50 Canadians like a mass plea. . . Vancouver's Jim Vallance put together the initial music track in his home studio and later recorded it at Little Mountain Sound with musicians Paul Dean, David Sinclair, Steve Denroche, Doug Johnson and sound engineers Bob Rock and Mike Fraser. Rock and Paul Hyde came up with a title for the unwritten song, Tears Are Not Enough.
The composition...was eventually sung by Northern Lights, a hastily assembled group that included Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, Anne Murray and Oscar Peterson, with proceeds going to famine-relief projects in Ethiopia. . . Rachel Paiement, Paul Hyde and Bob Rock contributed French words.
He lives in Maui, which has to add to his happiness. He has a beautiful wife and six children, two boys and four girls, ages 11 to 28. The two eldest are on their own.
| Preceded by | Metallicabassist 2001–03 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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