Overview
- His death, which occurred Sunday, Aug. 2, in a Burbank hospital, was confirmed by his brother Bobby Z, who said complications from an infection were the cause.
- Rivkin, known professionally as David Z, produced a teenage Prince demo in 1976 that helped secure Prince’s Warner Bros. deal and later engineered and contributed instrumentation to key Prince recordings.
- Across decades he worked in multiple genres and on major hits, including Lipps Inc.’s “Funkytown,” Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy,” and Jody Watley singles.
- He earned industry recognition late in his career, winning a Grammy in 2005 for producing Etta James’s Blues to the Bone, and collaborators praised his unconventional studio methods.
- David Z is survived by his brothers Bobby Z and Stephen Rivkin, his children and two grandchildren, and no public memorial plans have been reported so far.