Artist · United States
Don Was
Since 1952
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About
Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was (), is an American musician, bassist, record producer, music director, film composer, documentary filmmaker and radio host. Since 2011, he has also served as president of the American jazz label Blue Note Records.
For his work as a record producer, he has won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1989 for Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time and Producer of the Year in 1994. In 1995 he produced and directed a documentary about the life of Brian Wilson, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, that won the San Francisco Film Festival's Golden Gate Award. As a film composer, he won the 1994 British Academy Award (BAFTA) for Best Original Score in recognition of his work on the film Backbeat. He won the 2014 Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction for his work on the CBS TV special The Beatles: The Night That Changed America.
Records that he has produced have sold close to 100 million albums for a wide range of artists including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mayer, Wayne Shorter, Kris Kristofferson, Iggy Pop, The B-52s, Brian Wilson, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Ryan Adams.
He came to prominence in the 1980s in the band Was (Not Was). He also toured as a member of Bob Weir's Wolf Bros from 2018 until Weir's death in 2026.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Also in Français
Don Was (né le 13 septembre 1952 à Détroit) est un musicien et producteur américain.
De son vrai nom Don Fagenson, il fait ses débuts dans l'univers de la musique au sein de Was (Not Was), un groupe de dance-pop fondé en 1979 avec un ami d'enfance, David Weiss (David Was). Il y joue principalement de la basse et des claviers. Was (Not Was) sort quatre albums dans les années 1980 et plusieurs singles qui connaissent un certain succès commercial, notamment Spy in the House of Love et Walk the Dinosaur, respectivement 16e et 7e du Billboard Hot 100 en 1987-1988.
C'est cependant pour sa carrière de producteur qu'il est principalement connu : Don Was a notamment travaillé avec Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Ringo Starr, Zucchero ou les B-52's, et en 2014 avec Johnny Hallyday. Il est surtout connu comme producteur attitré des Rolling Stones depuis 1993.
Depuis 2012 Don Was est à la tête du label de jazz Blue Note.
Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
