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Phil Ramone, legend behind the legends, dies

Phil Ramone, the Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer who recorded the first major commercial CD and helped usher out the era of vinyl, died yesterday.

Ramone, 72, died in New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering an aortic aneurysm last month, Billboard reported.

His son, Matt Ramone, said his father was “very loving and will be missed.”

Phil won 14 Grammy Awards — three of them for Album of the Year — and worked with music titans like Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney. He produced Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” which came out on CD in 1982.

Ramone was also famous for duet recordings pairing Sinatra with Bono, and Tony Bennett with Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand.

“I always thought of Phil Ramone as the most talented guy in my band,” Joel said.

“So much of my music was shaped by him and brought to fruition by him. I have lost a dear friend — and my greatest mentor.”