Los Angeles, CA (January 3, 2023)—Producer/keyboardist Paul Fox, known for his work with some of the biggest names in Eighties R&B and Nineties’ Alternative Rock, died peacefully on December 25, 2022. For the last 10 years, he had suffered from Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease, which he was first diagnosed with in 2012. Fox was 68.
Born May 22, 1954 in Valley Stream, New York, Fox moved to the West Coast, first entering the San Francisco jazz scene before moving to Los Angeles, where he quickly became an in-demand session keyboardist, playing on tracks for Rod Stewart, The Commodores, Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Danny Elfman, Jeffrey Osborne, Vanity, Kim Wilde, 5 Star, Krokus, Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Thelma Houston, Matthew Wilder, The Tubes, Josie Cotton and Mötley Crüe, among many others.
However, it was arguably his work on keyboards throughout the Pointer Sisters’ mid-80s peak that paved the way for his production career. Tackling Emulator duties for the trio’s 1983 triple-platinum Break Out and then other synths for 1985’s platinum-selling follow-up, Contact, Fox returned to play keyboards but additionally earned associate producer credits on four tracks for 1986’s Hot Together. During this time, he also started to land production credits on tracks with other R&B hitmakers of the era, including The Commodores, Princess and Chico DeBarge, all of which led to his big production break, helming XTC’s classic double-album of psychedelic pop, 1989’s Oranges & Lemons.
The 1990s saw Fox’s production career explode in the emerging alternative rock world, as he produced the likes of The Wallflowers, Phish, The Sugarcubes (Björk), Gene Loves Jezebel, Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, Victoria Williams, Edwin McCain, Ziggy Marley, Semisonic, Sara Hickman, 10,000 Maniacs, Texas, Too Much Joy, Grant Lee Buffalo, Phantom Planet, Sixpence None The Richer, Meredith Brooks, Yes, They Might Be Giants, Boy George and many more.
Following his diagnosis with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s, Fox and his wife, Franne Golde—a multi-platinum award-winning songwriter in her own right, having worked with Diana Ross, Heart, Celine Dion, Pat Benatar, Whitney Houston, Selena and others—became involved in lobbying both state and national legislators for increased governmental research funding and improved access to care for those afflicted with the disease. In the years that followed, the couple were on the boards of both the Alzheimer’s Association and Music Mends Minds. Fox is survived by Golde and their son, Syd.
