(CelebrityAccess) — Hal Willner, a veteran music supervisor, and producer of the long-running late-night comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live has died of complications of coronavirus. He as 64.
Willner, whose passing was confirmed by Variety and Rolling Stone, first hinted that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 in a March 28th tweet which showed a map of the outbreak in the U.S. and said he was laid up in bed in New York.
“I always wanted to have a number one, but not this,” Willner wrote in the tweet.
Willner’s production credits include albums by Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Lucinda Williams, William S. Burroughs, and Marianne Faithfull, but is best known for his long tenure with Saturday Night Live, where he oversaw music coordination for sketches on the show.
In addition, he helped to organize numerous tribute albums, honoring artists such as Charlie Mingus, Leonard Cohen, and Kurt Weill. His tribute albums also took on themes, such as the music from vintage Disney animated films, a revisiting of Harry Smith’s legendary American folk music anthologies, and a compilation of nautical music and work songs.
