India Arie Phil Ramone - P 2013
Getty ImagesAward-winning music producer Phil Ramone has been hospitalized in New York City, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The 72-year-old had surgery on Thursday to prevent an aortic aneurysm and is in critical care.
Ramone is best known for his work with such top-tier vocalists and songwriters as Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Billy Joel and Paul Simon, among many others. He has won 14 Grammy Awards, including producer of the year in 1981, and has been nominated 33 times.
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He also received an Emmy Award in 1973 as sound mixer for a Duke Ellington tribute broadcast on CBS. Among his other noteworthy credits: Ramone recorded Marilyn Monroe’s boozy rendition of “Happy Birthday” sung to President John F. Kennedy in 1962. He also worked on music for many films and Broadway shows including A Star is Born, August Rush, Beyond the Sea, Flashdance, Ghostbusters and Midnight Cowboy.
Most recently, Ramone, who is based in Connecticut, had been working on new albums and compilations by George Michael, Dionne Warwick and Bennett’s Viva Duets.
Update: Concord Music Group’s Gregg Field, Ramone’s producing partner and friend, tells THR that the surgery was successful and that Ramone “is resting comfortably and expected to be released in the next few days.”
Twitter: @THRMusic
