Renowned US alt-rock producer and artist Steve Albini dies at 61

Steve Albini, the vocalist, guitarist and producer who was at the helm of many esteemed albums, has died aged 61 after a heart attack at his recording studio. Staff at the studio, Electrical Audio, confirmed the news to the Pitchfork website yesterday.

- Ben Beaumont-Thomas

As well as fronting the bands Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac, who all pushed at the boundaries of postpunk and art-rock, Albini produced - or, to use his preferred term, engineered - albums by Nirvana, Pixies and PJ Harvey.

He was noted for his DIY and punk ethos, resisting streaming and refusing to take royalties from recordings he produced for other artists.

Shellac were preparing their first album since 2014, To All Trains, for release next week.

Albini was born in California in 1962. His musical inspirations came from the punk movement, chiefly the Ramones but also the weirder end of the genre with bands such as Devo and Pere Ubu. He moved to the suburbs of Chicago to study journalism, and started his own musical project, Big Black, a solo endeavour that soon became a quartet.