Rod Temperton, the songwriter who penned Michael Jackson’s Thriller, dies aged 66
Temperton is said to have come up with much of Thriller in the back of a taxi on the way to the studio
The British songwriter behind Michael Jackson’s icon hit Thriller, Rod Temperton, has died at the age of 66, his music publisher announced on Wednesday.
Jon Platt, chairman and chief executive of Warner/Chappell, said Temperton died last week following a “brief aggressive battle with cancer”.
“His family is devastated and request total privacy at this, the saddest of sad times,” Platt said in a statement. A private funeral has already been held.
Temperton is said to have come up with much of Thriller in the back of a taxi on the way to the studio.
The 1982 album of the same title smashed a new record in December, becoming the first album to sell more than 30 million copies in the United States. Jackson died aged 50 on June 25, 2009, from a lethal dose of sedatives.