Jeff Lynne

Dubbed the fourth greatest album producer in music history by The Washington Times, Jeff Lynne enjoyed unparalleled success at two distinct junctures in his career: first as the leader and chief architect of the prog-turned-pop band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) in the 1970s, and later as the producer and co-songwriter on some of the most acclaimed rock albums of the 1990s and beyond, including George Harrison's Cloud Nine (1987), Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever (1988) and his efforts with the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. Lynne's initial efforts with ELO were massive, sprawling pop epics like "Livin' Thing," "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Turn to Stone," which merged polished, multi-layered vocals and instruments with sweeping orchestra movements and a heavy affinity for disco rhythms. When ELO ran its course in the mid-1980s, Lynne settled into an extraordinary string of hits as producer-songwriter for Harrison, Petty, Wilburys bandmate Roy Orbison and as the lucky producer of the 1995 single "Free as a Bird," which served as the closest thing to an actual Beatles reunion by pairing the three surviving members with a 1977 John Lennon vocal track. Lynne's warm, effervescent work as a producer generated record sales in the millions, as well as several Grammys, but most served as proof positive of his exceptional ability to yield both chart hits and relevancy from established artists whose careers had been eclipsed by the changing tastes in pop and rock.