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Hal Willner (1956–2020), music producer and SNL staffer

by Linnea Crowther

Hal Willner was a music producer who worked with artists including Marianne Faithfull and Lou Reed (1942 – 2013). He was also a longtime staff member at “Saturday Night Live,” where he was a sketch music producer since 1980.

Sketches, hits, and tribute albums

Willner worked on the music sketches of “Saturday Night Live” for decades as he also produced albums for musicians including Lucinda Williams, Laurie Anderson, and Bill Frisell. He may have been best known for assembling tribute albums and concerts. Willner was behind tribute albums including “Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films” (1988), which featured the music of Michael Stipe, Ringo Starr, and Sun Ra (1914 – 1993), among others. Willner’s other popular tribute albums include “Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” and “Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys.” Willner produced tribute concerts including the 1991 Greetings from Tim Buckley concert that launched the career of Buckley’s son, Jeff Buckley (1966 – 1997). He also worked on films including “Gangs of New York” and “Talladega Nights.”

Willner on the childhood that led to his career

“I was a kid who went around talking to himself, and used to get in trouble drawing cartoons, and locked myself in my room and went into dream world — I was one of those. I just retreated into television and records, and that was reality for me.” —from a 2017 interview with the New York Times

What people said about him

Full obituary: Pitchfork

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