Arif Mardin has died at his home in New York at the age of 74. The legendary music producer, who worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, The Bee Gees and Carly Simon, was suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Born in Turkey in 1932, Mardin studied in Istanbul and at the London School Of Economics, and did not originally intend to forge a career in music, but later became the first recipient of the Quincy Jones Scholarship at the Berklee College of Music, and by 1963 was beginning his long career at Atlantic Records, where he rose to become senior vice president before leaving to set up his own imprint at EMI, where he worked with Norah Jones. Producing hits like The Bee Gees' 'Jive Talking', Aretha Franklin's 'Respect', and Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings', Mardin was responsible for more than forty gold and platinum albums, and more than 15 Grammy nominations. In 1990, he was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
Mardin will be buried in Turkey, but a memorial service is expected to take place in New York. He is survived by his wife, playwright Latife Mardin, and two children.