Music producer Hal Willner passes away, had symptoms of Coronavirus

Hal Willner, a music producer, and longtime Saturday Night Live music supervisor has died. He was 64. Blake Zidell, a representative for Willner, said the producer died Tuesday. Zidell said Willner had symptoms consistent with those caused by the coronavirus, but he had not been diagnosed with the virus.

Willner had selected music for skits on Saturday Night Live since 1980. He produced albums for Lucinda Williams, Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull, who is currently being treated for the coronavirus in a London hospital.

Willner is also known for curating a host of tribute albums starting off with Amarcord Nino Rota in 1981. He’s had tribute projects dedicated to Thelonious Monk and music for Disney films. He recruited a variety of music artists for tribute projects including Sting, Keith Richards and Ringo Starr.

Willner produced a live tribute concert in New York for Tim Buckley in 1991. The concert helped launch the career of Buckley’s son, Jeff, who performed at the event. A day before, Jaws actor Lee Fierro died at age 91 due to health complications caused by coronavirus. According to Fox News, the death of the actor was confirmed by her friends to the local news portal Martha’s Vineyard Times.

“The one word I would think of when I think of Lee is dedication. I’ve watched her as a performer, director and businesswoman and then we became friends,” Fox News quoted artistic director Kevin Ryan as saying.“She was my teacher and mentor. I would still call Lee for artistic discussion and commentary... She was fiercely dedicated to the mission of teaching. She, no matter what it was, would stay at it and get the job done,” Ryan added.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fierro spent over 25 years as an artistic director at the Island Theatre Workshop Martha’s Vineyard besides playing a role in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. The veteran actor is survived by five children, said The Hollywood Reporter.