Ardent Studios founder and legendary producer John Fry has died. The man who gave a base of operations to the band that became Big Star passed away less than one week after Grammy Award-winning John Hampton, who was a long-standing member of the Ardent Studios family, died after a lengthy illness.

Sources at Ardent Studios confirm Fry died on Thursday morning. He was 69 years old.

About the Author

Rob Ross

Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?

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