Former Queen manager and founder of the famous Trident Studios, Norman Sheffield, has died, aged 74

By WMNSteveGrant

Norman Sheffield


Norman Sheffield pictured in 2013


Norman Sheffield


Queen


Norman Sheffield pictured in the 1970s

The first manager of mega-selling rock band Queen has died in Cornwall, aged 74.

The family of Norman Sheffield announced his death following a battle with cancer today.

Mr Sheffield was the first manager of the rock band Queen and owner of Soho’s Trident Studios, as well as “a beloved husband, dad, and grandfather” his family said.

Having begun his career as a drummer in The Hunters, and appearing with Cliff Richard in a performance at the Palladium in 1958, Mr Sheffield later bought a record shop in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire with his wife, Chris. He converted the upstairs into a recording studio and began to manage local bands.

In 1968, he and his brother Barry launched Trident Studios in Soho, where some of the world’s best known singles of all time were recorded, including David Bowie’s Space Oddity, The Beatles’ Hey Jude and Elton John’s Candle in the Wind.

The Sheffield brothers also had early TV connections, and it was their company. Trillion, who filmed the Bohemian Rhapsody video, widely regarded as the world’s first music video.

Mr Sheffield also founded one of the first Apple Computer dealerships in the UK in 1986, importing the computers and adding adapters so they would work on UK voltage.

Later, together with his sons he founded advertising agency Tableau, who were responsible for the early EasyJet campaigns, among others.

Mr Sheffield retired to Cornwall eight years ago. His autobiography, Life on Two Legs: Set the Record Straight, chronicling his life in the music world, was released in 2013.

He died on Friday June 20.

Mr Sheffield was father of Sam Sheffield-Dunstan, owner of Amelies restaurant in Porthleven. It has put two gold discs on its wall to honour Mr Sheffield and mark its little-known connection to UK music history.

On Amelies’ website, Sam said: “My brothers and I wanted to do something public to commemorate Dad, who lived in Cornwall with Mum for eight years before he passed away. We were all feeling completely lost the day after Dad went, so we decided to select a couple of gold discs and get them up on the wall at Amélies, so Dad won’t be forgotten and can continue to be a talking point about the place.

“Dad loved coming in and playing drums here and these have never been in the public domain – it’s like he’s watching over us.”

Each gold disc represents an award for the sale of half a million early Queen albums.

She added: I picked Sheer Heart Attack, released in 1974 – which features Killer Queen, my favourite ever track, whilst the boys chose the follow-up album, A Night At The Opera from 1975.

“Between them the two albums are the ones that shot Queen to international stardom. The latter featured Bohemian Rhapsody, which stayed at number one in the UK singles chart for nine weeks, charted at number one in several other territories, and gave the band their first top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.

“We hope people will take a look at the awards when they come to eat at Amélies, and raise a glass to Dad. He would have liked that.”

Mr Sheffield’s funeral will be held at St Wendrona Church near Helston, tomorrow.

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Queen-manager-founder-famous-Trident-Studios/story-21318327-detail/story.html