{"id":2070471,"date":"2026-07-31T05:27:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2070471"},"modified":"2026-07-31T05:27:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T02:27:45","slug":"glenn-a-baker-australian-music-historian-and-former-billboard-correspondent-dies-at-74","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2070471","title":{"rendered":"Glenn A. Baker, Australian Music Historian and Former Billboard Correspondent, Dies at 74"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tGlenn A. Baker, for generations a familiar name in Australian media for his work as a music historian, author, presenter and pundit, and a long-time Billboard correspondent, died Friday morning, July 31. He was 74.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tIcehouse\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tINXS & Jimmy Barnes\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\u201cGlenn\u2019s contribution to the Australian rock \u2019n\u2019 roll music landscape was immense, but his family remembers him as a loving father of six and grandfather of thirteen,\u201d reads a statement posted on his official social channels.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cGlenn\u2019s passion for music, travel, food and his family (still not entirely sure of the order) was, like his personality, larger than life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1952, the eldest of four children, Baker left school aged 15 to support his family and was \u201cgalvanized\u201d by seeing the Beatles on TV.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the mid-\u201870s, Baker launched his radio career as part of a research team whose work led to the creation of 2JJ, which would became triple j, the national youth network within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.<\/p>\n

\n\tBaker always cut a flamboyant figure on TV, which was often, in the 1970s through to recent times. A true music allrounder, Baker managed the band Ol\u201955 and, in 1979, co-founded the Australian record label Raven Records. He topped the BBC\u2019s \u201cRock Brain of the Universe\u201d on three occasions during the 1980s, and twice won the Australian Travel Writer of the Year Award twice (1995 and 2000).<\/p>\n

\n\tA prolific writer, Baker penned 17 books, sleeve notes for more than 600 albums, and served as Billboard\u2019s<\/em> Australia correspondent for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis knowledge of music was as vast as his collection of records. In 2024, Baker, through Lloyds Auctions, put his immense haul under the hammer. Over 80,000 items were put up for sale, including over 50,000 LPs \u201cprimarily representing rock\u2019n\u2019roll and popular music of the second half of the 20th century,\u201d the listing stated.<\/p>\n

\n\tWinarch Group\u2019s founder and director Paul Lambess bought the goods.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking with 702 ABC Sydney, Baker\u2019s son Orson revealed that his father had experienced a \u201cperiod of illness,\u201d was \u201cdeclining for a while\u201d and had experienced a stroke.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis dad was \u201csomebody who absolutely grabbed life, throttled it, and did everything that he wanted to do\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs news of his passing spread, the music community reached out.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am very sorry to hear of the passing of Glenn A Baker today,\u201d writes Iva Davies, spearhead of ICEHOUSE. \u201cGlenn was someone who lived life on his own terms \u2013 his passion for music and for the industry made him a force for discovery of new artists and to advocate with business and government to improve conditions for creators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes remembered Baker as \u201cthe first person I\u2019d turn to whenever I needed to know anything about our music history. He was always ready to help, drawing on his vast knowledge of popular music.\u201d It was Baker who sent Barnes the Easybeats song \u201cGood Times\u201d when the rocker was looking for a song to record with INXS. \u201cI\u2019ll miss his insights, his incredible knowledge, and our conversations about music whenever we met.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tARIA Hall of Fame inductee Marcia Hines reflects on Baker as \u201ca man to whom music was more than music. It was part of his life blood. His big, beautiful brain held the keys to a treasure trove of deep cuts that he rejoiced in and wrote about with the same prolific passion that is usually reserved for what readers\/listeners would usually view as \u2018the hits.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBaker had celebrated his birthday just three days earlier. \u201cWhile the family wishes for privacy,\u201d reads the family statement, \u201cif you do wish to honor Glenn or continue his legacy in some way, have a passionate conversation today with somebody about your favorite Australian muso or band. Rock on Glenn! You will be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/business\/business-news\/glenn-a-baker-obituary-1236306850\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/92606636-e1785475544524.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Glenn A. Baker, for generations a familiar name in Australian media for his work as a music historian, author, presenter and pundit, and a long-time Billboard correspondent, died Friday morning, July 31. He was 74. Explore Icehouse INXS & Jimmy Barnes See latest videos, charts and news \u201cGlenn\u2019s contribution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2070471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2070471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2070471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2070471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2070471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}