Friends hail `brilliant' Dudgeon as crash claims Elton producer. (News).

Elton John has led a wave of tributes to his one-time producer Gus Dudgeon, following the veteran record man's death in a motorway crash.

Dudgeon, 59, and his wife Sheila were killed when his Jaguar veered off the M4 at Berkshire in the early hours of last Monday.

Across a lengthy career, Dudgeon worked on projects for Joan Armatrading, David Bowie and Chris Rea, but is perhaps best known for his work overseeing production on Elton John's most highly-regarded early works, including albums such as Tumbleweed Connection and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

"I am devastated by the tragic news about Gus Dudgeon," John said in a statement. "He was an incredibly talented producer and a dear friend for many years. I will miss him terribly."

Stephen Budd, who managed Dudgeon through much of the Nineties, says he always prided himself on getting the right and best musicians for any project, however much that meant going over budget.

"He was a brilliant casting director and he really knew how to pull together a team to produce something magical," says Budd, who describes Dudgeon as a "talkaholic" with "a story for every occasion".

BMG international A&R and marketing vice president Nick Stewart, who worked with Dudgeon while at PolyGram remastering the early Elton John albums for re-issue, describes him as a "fantastic" technician and arranger. "He was a very, very good judge of a song, a good commercial song, but, more importantly, a song of lasting quality," he says. "He was an absolutely top-flight arranger and he knew how to use space in a studio to create an atmosphere."