Raphael Ravenscroft, the man responsible for one of music's greatest saxophone hooks on Gerry Rafferty's 1978 hit "Baker Street," has died at the age of 60.
The musician, who passed away Sunday (October 19) from a suspected heart attack, worked with the likes of Daft Punk, America and Marvin Gaye, Billboard reports. Ravenscroft's life changed after he provided the iconic sax part on "Baker Street," which made it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
According to The Telegraph, Ravenscroft received about $45 for his contribution to the famous song in the form of a bounced check while Rafferty raked in nearly $130,000 a year from royalties. The saxophonist talked about what annoyed him most about the song in 2011. "I'm irritated because it's out of tune," he said about his part. "Yeah, it's flat. By enough of a degree that it irritates me at best."
Ravenscroft went on to work with Pink Floyd on 1983's The Final Cut and Robert Plant. He was a music tutor at York College and published an instructional book series titled The Complete Saxophone Player in 1992. After Rafferty's death in 2011, Ravenscroft recorded a tribute called Forgiveness for the musician's funeral.
"He is an absolutely incredible man," the sax player's daughter, Scarlett Raven, told BBC News. "You could tell from the way he played that he put his heart and soul into his music. He touched your soul and made you want to better yourself. I think he was very proud of 'Baker Street' and that it made people feel good."
"I'm sure a lot of people will put on 'Baker Street' and smile today," she added.
