Australian music journalist and broadcaster Glenn A. Baker has died aged 74.
Baker’s friend and fellow music journalist Stuart Coupe announced the news on Friday morning, in a post shared on social media.
“This is a post that I was hoping I wouldn’t be making for a considerable period of time,” Coupe wrote.
“But after an illness Glenn A. Baker passed away earlier this morning. I’m beyond sad.”
He was widely admired for championing Australian music, particularly during the country’s rock ‘n’ roll boom of the 1970s.
He helped establish radio station 2JJ, which later became Triple J, before going on to build a distinguished career across radio, publishing and the recording industry.
In 1975, Baker became manager of Australian band Ol’ 55 and co-wrote the group’s Christmas hit (I Want A) Rockin’ Christmas.
Over the following decades, he became a familiar voice on Triple J and Triple M, co-founded Raven Records, won the BBC’s Rock Brain of the Universe competition three times and served as the Australian editor of Billboard magazine for two decades.
Baker also authored 16 books on music and travel, contributed to more than 200 magazines and played a key role on the ARIA Hall of Fame advisory committee, helping induct artists including Max Merritt, Billy Thorpe, The Masters Apprentices and Australian Crawl.
Tributes have started pouring in for the beloved music journalist, with English singer and songwriter Leo Sayer sharing a social media post dedicated to his friend.
“Very sad to hear that my dear friend Glenn A Baker has passed after a period of severe illness,” Sayer began in the post.
“In case you didn’t know him, Glenn was a walking, talking, broadcasting encyclopaedia of rock and pop, the likes of which we will never see again,” he continued.
“We talked many times, he’s one of the very few journalists I ever invited to my home. I loved him for his knowledge but also for the fact he was one of the tiny few who understood about the art and craft of creating songs.
“We shared a love of Bob Dylan and his understanding of what made Dylan so magical was inspiring to me.”
“I’ll miss him but have so many great memories to savour. Rock journalism has lost a king, RIP mate…”
Image: Today
