Background
Mike Shipley was born in Sydney. He first became interested in a recording career while at school in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.
Mike Shipley was born in Sydney. He first became interested in a recording career while at school in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.
He completed high school at Camberwell Grammar School (class of "74) in Melbourne, Australia, but quickly returned to London, where he got his first big break working for Wessex Studios, home to huge acts including Queen and The Sex Pistols.
He was awarded two for his work on the Alison Krauss and Union Station release Paper Airplane. His first engineering sessions were during the punk-music explosion of the late 70s and early 80s and included recordings with the likes of these names and others, including The Damned. Mike also produced with Def Leppard the Adrenalize album.
Asked to work with The Cars, Shipley went to Los Angeles in 1984, where he had since been based until his death.
Shipley later relocated to Hawaii for a sabbatical, but returned to Los Angeles to work with artists such as Def Leppard, Shania Twain, The Corrs, Anberlin, Aerosmith, Maroon 5, Faith Hill, India.Arie, Kelly Clarkson, Green Day, Nickelback and Alison Krauss. Death Shipley died on July 25, 2013.
Cause of death as stated August 9, 2013, at the memorial service, was an apparent suicide.