Steve Lillywhite facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steve Lillywhite
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Lillywhite in 2010
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stephen Alan Lillywhite |
| Born | 15 March 1955 |
| Origin | Egham, Surrey England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Associated acts | Kirsty MacColl (former wife), U2, Dave Matthews Band |
Stephen Alan Lillywhite (born 15 March 1955) is an English record producer. He helps musicians record and create their songs and albums. Since starting his career in 1977, Steve has worked on over 500 records! He has collaborated with many famous artists like U2, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, and the Killers.
Steve has won six Grammy Awards, which are very important music awards. In 2006, he won for Album of the Year and Producer of the Year. In 2012, he was given a special honor called Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) for his amazing work in music.
Contents
Career Highlights
Starting in Music
Steve Lillywhite began his journey in the music world in 1972. He started as a tape operator at a company called PolyGram. This job involved helping with the technical side of recording music.
He helped a band called Ultravox! record a demo, which is a sample recording. This demo helped them get a recording contract with Island Records. Soon after, Steve joined Island Records as a producer. He worked with many new wave bands, including his brother's band, The Members. His first big hit came in 1978 with "Hong Kong Garden" by Siouxsie and the Banshees, which reached number 7 in the UK. He also produced their first album, The Scream.
In 1979, Steve produced two more hit songs for The Members: "Sound of the Suburbs" and "Offshore Banking Business." He also worked with the band XTC on their album Drums and Wires, which included the popular song "Making Plans for Nigel."
Making Hits in the 1980s
In 1980, Steve produced the Psychedelic Furs' first album. He also worked on Peter Gabriel's third solo album, which became the number one album in the UK. During this time, Steve, Peter Gabriel, and engineer Hugh Padgham created a unique drum sound called "gated reverb." This sound became very famous, especially in the songs of Phil Collins.
Later in 1980, Steve produced Boy, the first album by the band U2. He continued to work with U2 on their albums October and War. He also produced music for other artists like Big Country, Talking Heads, and The Rolling Stones.
In 1987, Steve worked with the Pogues on their hit song "Fairytale of New York." His wife at the time, Kirsty MacColl, sang the female part in the song. It was a huge success and is still a popular holiday song today.
Big Success in the 1990s
The 1990s were a very successful time for Steve Lillywhite. He produced several multi-platinum albums for the Dave Matthews Band, including Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, and Before These Crowded Streets. Multi-platinum means the albums sold millions of copies!
In 1991, he helped produce some songs on U2's album Achtung Baby. He also worked with bands like Travis and The La's. In 1996, he produced Billy Breathes for the band Phish, and he worked with them again in 2009 on their album Joy.
Steve was even featured in a BBC Radio 1 documentary series about record producers, showing how important his work was.
New Challenges in the 2000s
In 2000, Steve was working on the fourth album for the Dave Matthews Band, but they decided to go in a different direction. Some of the songs he worked on were later released as a bootleg album called The Lillywhite Sessions. Many of these songs were later re-recorded by the band with a different producer.
In 2002, Steve became a managing director at Universal Music Group. He helped sign new artists and produced albums for them. He also joined Columbia Records in 2005 as a Senior Vice-president, where he signed the band MGMT.
Steve won more Grammy Awards in the 2000s. He won for Record of the Year with U2's songs "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On." In 2006, he won three more Grammys, including Producer of the Year and Best Rock Album for U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
He continued to work with many artists, including Chris Cornell, Switchfoot, Crowded House, and Matchbox Twenty. In 2008, he worked with U2 again on their album No Line on the Horizon. He also produced music for Blue October and Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Recent Work in the 2010s
In 2010, Steve Lillywhite worked with members of the band Oasis on music for their new band, Beady Eye. He also produced an album for Evanescence, but it was not released.
In 2012, Steve was honored with the CBE for his contributions to music. This is a very special award in the UK. He also reunited with Thirty Seconds to Mars to co-produce their album Love, ..., Faith and Dreams.
In 2015, Steve won his sixth Grammy Award for his work on Juanes's album Loco De Amor. He also produced a song for Amy Lee's Recover, Vol. 1 EP.
More recently, Steve has worked with a Thai rock band called Slot Machine and a Japanese band named Luna Sea. He has mentioned that he is semi-retired and lives in Jakarta, only choosing to work with certain artists now.
Personal Life
Steve Lillywhite was born in Surrey, England. He was married to singer Kirsty MacColl from 1984 to 1994, and they had two sons, Jamie and Louis. Kirsty MacColl passed away in 2000. Steve was later married to Patricia Louise Galluzzi from 2004 to 2014. In 2012, he was recognized for his services to music by being made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
Selected works
- Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding
- Big Country – The Crossing, Wonderland, Steeltown
- Bruce Foxton – Touch Sensitive
- Blue October – Approaching Normal
- Chris Cornell – Carry On
- Climie Fisher – some songs from Everything
- Counting Crows – Hard Candy
- Crowded House – Time on Earth
- Darius Danesh – Dive In
- Dark Star – Twenty Twenty Sound
- Dave Matthews Band – Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, Before These Crowded Streets, The Lillywhite Sessions (unreleased), Away from the World
- Elwood – The Parlance of Our Time
- Frida – Shine
- Gigi – Setia Bersama Menyayangi dan Mencintai
- Guster – Lost and Gone Forever
- Iwan Fals – SATU
- Jason Mraz – Mr. A-Z
- Joan Armatrading – Walk Under Ladders, The Key, mixing on Sleight of Hand
- Johnny Thunders – So Alone
- Juanes – Loco de Amor
- Kirsty MacColl – Kite, Electric Landlady
- Luna Sea – Cross
- Marshall Crenshaw – Field Day
- Matchbox Twenty – Exile on Mainstream
- Morrissey – Vauxhall and I, Southpaw Grammar, Maladjusted
- Noah – Second Chance
- Ours – Distorted Lullabies
- Penetration – Coming Up for Air
- Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel (aka Peter Gabriel III or Melt)
- Phish – Billy Breathes, Joy
- Rearview Mirror – All Lights Off
- Simple Minds – Sparkle in the Rain
- Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream
- Slank – Palalopeyank
- Switchfoot – Oh! Gravity.
- Talking Heads – Naked
- The Adventure Babies – Laugh
- The Killers – Battle Born
- The La's – The La's
- The Members – At the Chelsea Nightclub
- The Pogues – If I Should Fall From Grace with God, Peace and Love
- The Psychedelic Furs – The Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk Talk
- The Rolling Stones – Dirty Work
- The Sam Willows – Glasshouse (Lillywhite edition)
- The Smiths – mixed the "Ask" single (The World Won't Listen)
- Thirty Seconds to Mars – This Is War, Love, ..., Faith and Dreams
- Thompson Twins – Set
- Tom Robinson – Sector 27
- Toyah – The Changeling
- Travis – Good Feeling
- U2 – Boy, October, War, and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb; as well as some songs on The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, All That You Can't Leave Behind, No Line on the Horizon and Songs of Experience
- Ultravox – Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha!
- Urban Verbs – Early Damage
- World Party – Bang!
- XTC – Drums and Wires, Black Sea
