Tom Skeeter, the owner of Los Angeles’ Sound City Studios (which Dave Grohl made a documentary about in 2013), has died according to Billboard reports. No cause of death has been released yet, but a statement on the studio’s Facebook page early Saturday morning regretfully confirmed that they had lost their “main man.”
“[We are] grateful our Sound City movie pals for introducing him to all of you,” the post continued. “Thank you to all of the people who have stopped by the office to meet Tom in the past few years—he enjoyed the visits, and loved hearing how far people had come.”
Alongside business partner Joe Gottfried, Skeeter was also an artist manager and industry insider for a good portion of his career. He managed Rick Springfield, who eventually recorded at his studio, for most of the ’80s and it was the “Jessie’s Girl” singer that first broke the news of his death on Friday afternoon.
Tom Skeeter (parter in Sound City Studios & my co-manager through the ’80s) has passed away. A southern gentleman. RIP Tom. xo Rick
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— Rick Springfield (@rickspringfield) September 12, 2014
After its founding in 1969, Sound City Studios played recording home to iconic acts as varied as Nirvana, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, and Foreigner. It was that legacy of musical greatness that inspired the Foo Fighters’ frontman to make a documentary about the studio and its legendary soundboard in 2013. For more about the building Skeeter built, read SPIN’s 2013 cover story about Grohl and his film.
