Mark Moffatt, the Australian-born guitarist, producer and engineer based in Nashville, Texas, who has worked on recordings by a long list of major acts, from the Saints to Keith Urban, Tim Finn, Yothu Yindi and many more , died Friday (September 6) after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. It was 74.
Few Australian creatives can top Moffatt's output in the studio.
Moffatt produced more tracks than any other single producer in the APRA Top 30 Australian Songs, a list published in 2001 to celebrate the PRO's 75th anniversary. And it produced a remarkable 15 ARIA Hall of Fame inductees.
Originally from Maryborough, he moved to Brisbane and then moved to the UK to work in London's Denmark Street for several years. Back in Brisbane in 1976, Moffat found himself behind the desk producing The Saints' 'I'm Stranded', one of the most important songs of the nascent punk scene.
Production stints with EMI and TCS Studios in Melbourne paved the way to Sydney in 1980, where Moffatt joined festival Records as an in-house producer, working with some of the biggest names in Australian music for more than a decade.
It was Moffatt who shaped the “raw energy” of The Saint (I'm) Stranded” and produced Yothu Yindi's hit “Treaty”, leaving a “rich catalog of success and an incredible legacy on the Australian and global stage”, he says. ARIA announcement. “Mark gave life to sounds that defined generations.”
Moving to Nashville in 1996, Moffat was the inaugural APRA AMCOS Member Relations Representative in Nashville from his appointment in 2014 until he retired from the role in June 2024. During his time there, he was awarded the CMA Global Achievement.
The late music man “is without a doubt a legend of our industry and most importantly, a kind and wonderful man who knew him,” an APRA AMCOS statement said.
At the time of his death, Moffatt was putting the final touches on an album for KILO, a band he formed with Australian rock singer John “Swanee” Swan.
“As much as Moffat loved his music, his first love was his family,” says a statement on his social page. He is survived by his wife, Lindsey, stepdaughter Dana and two granddaughters, son Geordie, and extended family in Australia.
A celebration of his life is being planned, with details to be released in due course.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/mark-moffatt-obituary-1235768614/
