Music Champion Mark Moffatt Passes

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Mark Moffatt

Veteran producer, musician and writer Mark Moffatt passed away today (Sept. 6) in Nashville, Tennessee at age 74 after battling pancreatic cancer for over a year.

Moffatt was known to be one of the most experienced and respected producers to emerge from Australia. The Grammy nominee produced more tracks on the APRA Top 30 Songs Of All Time list than any other single producer and worked with 15 ARIA Hall of Fame inductees.

Moffatt chased his musical passions from his hometown of Maryborough to Brisbane, then hopped on a boat to the United Kingdom to work on London’s famed Denmark Street for several years. He returned to Brisbane in 1976, where his production of The Saints’ “I’m Stranded” took his flourishing career to new heights. Production stints with EMI and TCS Studios in Melbourne led Moffatt to Sydney in 1980, where he became Festival Records’ in-house producer, working with some of the biggest names in Australian music for more than a decade. He then relocated to Nashville in 1996 and quickly became part of its thriving music scene. Moffatt has helped numerous Aussie artists, including Keith Urban, Tim Finn and Yothu Yindi, as a mentor, producer, studio musician and all-around coach.

His overriding focus for the past two decades was to bridge the international divide on behalf of the Americana Music Association, serving as its Board President for three terms, and educating everyone in his musical orbit on the complexities and history of the genre. Moffatt was also a founding Americana Music Foundation Board member, served as APRA’s Nashville Ambassador for 10 years and was recognized with the CMA Global Achievement Award for his international efforts.

As much as he loved music, Moffatt’s first love was his family. He is survived by his wife Lindsey, step-daughter Dana and two granddaughters, his son Geordie and extended family in Australia.

A celebration of his life is being planned. Further details to follow.

Liza Anderson
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