Sir Brian May pays tribute to late ‘Bohemian Rhapsody' producer

Queen’s producer, Roy Thomas Baker, breathed his last at the age of 78, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The music mastermind was renowned for his work with the legendary British rock stars and produced five of their albums.

It also included their wildly successful 1975 album, A Night at the Opera, which blessed the world with the universal rock anthem, Bohemian Rhapsody.

Sir Brian May was quick to take to his official Instagram account, reacting to the demise of his long-time collaborator.

“Very sad to hear of the passing of Roy Thomas Baker. Roy played a huge part in the production of so much Queen music in the early days,” he wrote in the beginning of his caption.

Also regretting how he fell out of touch with Roy, the guitarist mentioned, “Roy's production contribution along with Mike Stone's engineering for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' will never be forgotten. I regret slipping out of touch latterly with Roy. I suppose life moves at such a pace these days that we imagine there will be plenty of time to rekindle a friendship, and then suddenly one day it's too late.”

“Thank you, Roy for all the great work you did for us, and all the fun we had. Rest in Peace. Bri,” he concluded.

Additionally, it was no secret that Baker always knew that Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody would be a successful track, telling the New York Times, "I thought it was going to be a hit. We didn’t know it was going to be quite that big. I didn’t realize it was still going to be talked about 30 years later."

Bohemian Rhapsody dominated the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and then re-entered the list after their iconic and audience-favourite front man, Freddie Mercury, passed away in 1991.