Metropolis Mastering has paid tribute to John Davis, who passed away, aged 63, on September 13 at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London after a short illness.
One of the UK’s most accomplished and successful mastering engineers, Davis began his career at the BBC in the late 1970s running off cassettes for producers, before joining the tape library at CBS Studios in London in 1984.
During an editing job he formed a relationship with English singer-songwriter Phil Oakey of the Human League, and after working with him, Davis’ mastering engineer career began.
He later joined Metropolis Studios in 2008.
Throughout his career, Davis worked with various artists including Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin, Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, The Killers, Lana Del Rey, Blur, Gorillaz, Jacknife Lee, Florence And The Machine, FKA Twigs, U2, Haim, Dua Lipa, Roni Size, Soul II Soul, Snow Patrol, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, The Prodigy, Tricky, The XX and Badly Drawn Boy.
In 2014, Davis won a Grammy for his work remastering the Led Zeppelin catalogue, as well as the Music Producers Guild Mastering Engineer Of The Year award in 2016.
More recently, Davis worked with Jockstrap on their debut album, I Love You Jennifer B.
“I love my Dad,” said Davis’ son Felix Davis, also a mastering engineer at Metropolis Studios. “He was an authority on all things music related and I feel immensely lucky that I got to share many (but nowhere near enough) years learning from him. His passing has left me and my family utterly heartbroken and I would do anything to be able to just sit and chat with him again, debating which David Bowie live album was best or whether New Order were superior to Joy Division. I owe so much to him and hope to be even half of the respected figure he was.”
"John will be greatly missed by everybody in the Metropolis family," said the studio in a statement. "We send all our love, condolences and sympathies to John's family and friends. Our thoughts are with you at this difficult time. God bless you John, the music lives on."
John Davis is survived by his five sons Barney, Felix, Jay, Eden and Skyler.
Music Week’s thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.
