Aerosmith, John Lennon producer Jack Douglas dead at 80

By Jill Lances May 12, 2026 | 5:30 PM

Music producer Jack Douglas records during “Rockspell: An Historic Fusion of Rock N Roll and Gospel Music” recording session at Plymouth Rock Studios on February 14, 2022 in Plymouth, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)

Legendary music producer Jack Douglas, who worked with such artists as John Lennon and Aerosmith, passed away at 80. The news was confirmed by his family in a statement on Facebook.

“He passed away peacefully on Monday night,” read the post. “As many of you who follow him know, he produced great music, and lived a colorful life. We know that he touched many of your lives; we would love to hear more about that in the comments. He will be missed.”

Douglas had a successful career producing albums in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond. His first success came as an engineer on John Lennon’s 1971 album, Imagine, and he later worked as a producer on Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy, the final Lennon album released before his December 1980 death. Douglas’ work on Double Fantasy earned him a Grammy for album of the year.

Douglas also saw great success working with Aerosmith, which resulted in four multiplatinum albums: 1974’s Get Your Wings, 1975’s Toys in the Attic, 1976’s Rocks and 1977’s Draw the Line.

Douglas worked with several other artists throughout his career, either as an engineer or producer, including Cheap Trick, Patti Smith, New York Dolls and Slash.