Power was also a longtime professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
Credit: Cindy Ord/WireImage
NEED TO KNOW
- Bob Power, a musician and recording engineer, has died at age 73
- He worked with everyone from Erykah Badu and India.Arie to D’Angelo and The Roots
- Questlove called Power “our training wheels for how to present music”
Bob Power, a prolific musician and recording engineer who worked with everyone from Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan to D’Angelo and David Byrne, has died. He was 73.
Power’s death was announced on Monday, March 2 in an Instagram post from Okayplayer, a music platform founded by Questlove, whose group The Roots worked with Power for years.
“We are saddened to announce the passing of Bob Power, the legendary engineer, producer, and musician whose work helped define the sound of hip‑hop and R&B for generations,” the statement read. “Bob’s touch shaped some of the most iconic music of our time… Bob Power was a bridge between musical worlds, blending technical mastery with soul, rhythm, and innovation. His influence will echo in every beat, every mix, and every artist he inspired. Rest in power, Bob your music, your vision, and your legacy will live on forever.”
Power — who was also a longtime professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music — was mourned by Questlove himself, who wrote on Instagram that he was “devastated” by Power’s death.
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“You could NOT encounter a more engaging, enthusiastic, laser focused craftsman of sound and sonics,” he wrote. “Bob was our training wheels for how to present music.”
Badu, who won two Grammys for music made with Power, also paid tribute, commenting on Instagram, “Safe Journey my friend.” Power produced and mixed Badu’s hit single “On & On,” and was also credited on her album Baduizm.
Power worked on more than 40 songs that charted, and more than 20 that went either platinum or gold, according to his NYU professor biography. He was nominated for a Grammy in 1997 for engineering Meshell Ndegeocello’s album Peace Beyond Passion.
He was born in Chicago in 1952, and his first real taste of mixing came 10 years later, when his sister got a guitar in order to learn how to play Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
Credit: Gary Gershoff/WireImage
“[Bob Power] gets idea to play it louder. BP hooks up with Mrs. Baer, sister’s folk teacher. BP quits lessons — wants to do it his own way,” a timeline on his website says says.
He joked that he “pitched a fit” until his parents bought him an electric guitar in 1965, and his passions grew from there. He went to college in St. Louis and studied classical theory and composition, before moving to San Francisco in 1975.
He wrote music for TV shows including PBS’s Over Easy before moving to New York in 1982, where he played “every gig imaginable,” including “mafia weddings in Bensonhurst for $75” and psychiatric hospitals, according to his website.
In 1984, the owner of Calliope Studios asked Power to fill in engineering during a staff vacation. He did, and soon developed a following. The next year, he met and started working with A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and more. Over the years, Power also wrote jingles for clients like Coca-Cola and Mercedes.
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