“Absolutely Throttled Life”: Aussie Rock Journalist, Glenn A. Baker, Dies Aged 74

Beloved Australian rock historian, travel writer, and journalist Glenn A. Baker has died at the age of 74. Baker’s health had been “declining for a while”, his son Orson told ABC News.

The former triple j broadcaster and Australian Travel Writer of the Year is being remembered for his encyclopedic music knowledge and his impressive, two-decade long stint as Australian editor of Billboard. 

Fellow music journalist and long time friend of Baker, Stuart Coupe, posted the news to Facebook this morning, telling his followers and loved ones he was “beyond sad”. 

“His enthusiasm was so infectious,” wrote one commenter. “Coupled with that vast knowledge — there will never be another.”

“Glenn once made a board game called ‘Rock Academy’,” wrote another, “that was so accurately detailed that when we played it we joked that possibly the only one to be able to win playing it was Glenn himself.”

Glenn A. Baker: Traveler, Writer, Go-Getter

According to Orson, Baker was not just an avid music guru, collector, and commentator. He was an explorer, “somebody who absolutely grabbed life, throttled it, and did everything that he wanted to do.”

“The strongest memory I think all of us children will have of him, was when we were all young, he took it upon himself to take each child overseas and enjoy an experience into his world,” said Orson. “He was always very keen to bring his children along as a plus one to concerts and he’d drag you backstage to say, meet Mariah Carey, or whoever it may be.”

Born 1952, Baker would become one of Australia’s most influential music commentators over a career that would span five decades. He was famously involved in the research project that led to the creation of Sydney radio program triple j, and the recipient of the BBC’s Rock Brain of the Universe title three times during the 1980s. 

Baker would later go on to serve as Australian editor of Billboard magazine for more than 20 years, write more than 20 books, and contribute to hundreds of magazines and newspapers.