Joel Dorn, the Grammy-winning record producer who worked with Don McLean, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, the Neville Brothers, Herbie Mann and numerous other jazz, R&B and pop musicians in a career spanning 40 years, has died at age 65 in New York of a heart attack.

Don McLean says:

“Joel Dorn was the best friend an artist or a song ever had. I am honoured to have worked with him and known him for over 30 years. Joel was a giver, not a taker and he was the only producer who really understood me and what I was trying to be as an artist. He will always be with me.”