Rupert Hine dead at 72

The English musician, producer and songwriter Rupert Hine has died at the age of 72.

After releasing two solo albums in the early 80:s he joined the jazz rock fusion band Quantum Jump. When they quit, he returned to solo albums, this time with a sound more focused on new wave and synthpop. He released three albums in this style 1981 through 1983, with “The Wildest Wish to Fly” being the last one.

He went on to produce the debut albums from both Howard Jones and later, Underworld. He continued to work with Howard Jones but also produced Thompson Twins, The Fixx, Tina Turner and many more.

In 1986 he started to release music under the name Thinkman, presented as a group. It was in fact a solo project for Rupert Hine, who hired actors to play as the group live.

He was currently serving as board director for The Ivors Academy of Music Creators, who confirmed his death on Facebook earlier today.