hile the buzz around the Met Gala’s The Garden of Time theme has faded, some are still searching for how many South Asians made the best dressed list besides Alia Bhatt.

However, the global music industry has suffered a significant loss this month with the untimely death of Steve Albini, an American musician, guitarist and music producer. His passing may have gone unnoticed, but his contribution to music is undeniable. He fronted several bands, each with a dedicated fanbase. However, it was his work as an audio engineer that solidified his place in the music scene.

Inspired by punk music, Albini formed Big Black in 1981 and went on to lead two more indie bands with smaller audiences. With a journalism degree, he created fanzines for his own projects and those he admired.

By 1986, he had developed a passion for recording and quickly gained a reputation as an American indie giant. He favored analog over digital, championed local bands, and never charged them royalties in perpetuity. He only billed for studio time and effort, a rarity for records producers in the 1980s and even today. His fame as a recording engineer transcended the local scene, leading him to work with artists like the Pixies. Soon after, Nirvana approached Albini, with Kurt Cobain wanting him to produce their album, In Utero following Nevermind’s commercial success. Despite his reputation for being difficult, Steve Albini produced Nirvana’s third album. While many contributed to the album’s final release, Albini understood the situation and didn’t publicly criticize the band.

His work also caught the attention of English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, and he produced her second album, Rid of Me. The result was an album that was much rawer in terms of production and is still considered one of the greatest records of the 1990s.

For the artists Steve Albini worked with, two things mattered most: his comfort with invisibility, and his ability to capture the desired sound for their album. This might have meant losing some listeners, but he was equally adept at recording bands and solo artists. If an artist craved a minimal, raw, or stripped-down sound, Albini was their go-to person.

Among the dozens of albums he engineered or produced, he also recorded and mixed Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Jimmy Plant’s only studio album, Walking into Clarksdale. He even worked on an early Bruce Springsteen album and convinced Patty Smith to collaborate with him. However, these stories are buried in the history of music and lesser known as Steve was a strong advocate for pre-Internet record successes and their contribution to music.

“By 1986, Steve Albini had developed a passion for recording and quickly gained a reputation as an American indie giant. He favored analog over digital, championed local bands, and never charged them royalties in perpetuity. He only billed for studio time and effort, a rarity for records producers in the 1980s and even today. His fame as a recording engineer transcended the local scene, leading him to work with artists like the Pixies. Soon after, Nirvana approached Albini, with Kurt Cobain wanting him to produce their album, In Utero following Nevermind’s commercial success. Despite his reputation for being difficult, Steve Albini produced Nirvana’s third album.

Most recognized for working with Nirvana on their album, In Utero, he also contributed to the band’s boxset and Singles albums after Kurt Cobain’s passing in April 1994, which included the song, ‘You Know You’re Right.’

Dave Grohl, a member of both Nirvana and Foo Fighters, had worked with Steve Albini on multiple occasions. Upon learning of Albini’s quiet passing in Chicago, Grohl dedicated the Foo Fighters’ iconic song, ‘My Hero’ to the late musician, recording engineer, and producer.

During a Foo Fighters concert in Charlotte, North Carolina, Grohl dedicated their performance of ‘My Hero’ to the In Utero producer, who also worked with Foo Fighters on a single from their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways. The band recorded the album’s opening single, ‘Something from Nothing’ at Steve Albini’s Chicago-based Electrical Audio studio. Dave Grohl also featured Steve Albini in his docuseries, Sonic Highways.

Grohl said: “Tonight I’d like to dedicate this song to a friend that we lost the other day, who I’ve known a long, long time. He left us much too soon. He’s touched all of your lives, I’m sure. I’m talking about Steve Albini. For those of you who know, you know. For those of you who don’t know, just remember that name: Steve Albini. Let’s sing this one for him.”

While some incredible artists, like Elvis Costello, have chosen this time to criticize Steve Albini despite his absence to defend himself or his views on the music industry, his family and friends mourn his loss.

A heart attack at just 61-years old is not how anyone expected Steve Albini to go. It seemed he would be around for much longer, perhaps until he passed the torch to someone who shared his principles, even if it meant sacrificing financial gain.

Despite Elvis Costello’s criticism of the legendary punk rock producer and engineer, others like Foo Fighters, Pixies, and former Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard held him in a high regard. In a tweet, Gibbard said, “Steve was so generous and good to me when I was young and new. I have so much to say, but it’s going to take a second. I’m just tremendously sad. God, I loved that guy.”

An unassuming guy, Albini never saw himself as one of the greats who created a scene; he believed he simply played a role. “It was an extremely active, very fertile scene where everybody was participating on every level,” Albini said of Chicago’s music scene. “The community that I joined when I came to Chicago enabled me to continue with a life in music. I didn’t do this by myself. I did this as a participant in a scene, in a community, in a culture, and when I see somebody taking away from that rather than participating in it as an equal, it makes me think less of that person. My participation in all of this is going to come to an end at some point. The only thing I can say for myself is that, along the way, it was a cool thing that I participated in, and on the way out, I want to make sure that I don’t take it with me.”

Rest in peace, Steve. You will live on through your musical contribution.