Chicago music icon Steve Albini dies at 61

• He also led two Chicago indie bands, Big Black and Shellac. The latter was reportedly preparing for a tour.
• Albini's Electrical Audio is one of the premier recording studios in Chicago.

What they're saying: "He was one of the nicest, kindest, most generous and giving people we've ever known," Sue Miller, former owner of Lounge Ax, tells Axios. "It's just so hard to believe, and we will miss Steve forever."

• "It's a sad day for the world to lose someone who made such an impact," Metro Chicago owner Joe Shanahan tells Axios. "He embraced the indie spirit, and he walked the walk. He was a fan of bands, like no other."

Sound Opinions host and music critic Jim DeRogatis will also remember Albini's impact.

• "Steve Albini was a singular force in underground music whose influence reached far beyond that for the last five decades," DeRogatis tells Axios.
• "As someone who thought deeply and cared passionately about independent music, he voiced an ethic that many tried — and sometimes failed — to live up to, but which was valid nonetheless. Entire books can and will be written about that."

Context: With all his success, Albini became a crusader for fairness and equity in the music industry, pushing back against major labels and corporations.

• Albini famously recorded Nirvana's "In Utero" album, but was only paid for his engineering services rather than taking royalties.

What he said: "The music industry is a parasite," Albini wrote in a keynote speech for a music conference in 2015.

• "When I came of age as a conscious musician in the late '70s, early '80s, I wanted to be independent of the existing power structures in the music scene," Albini told WBEZ in 2012. "The whole of my personality was formed in punk rock, which was an abject rejection of capitalism that wasn't based on cooperation and collaboration."

Zoom out: Albini also was a really good poker player, hosting card games at his studio for years.

• He was also active in politics and helped produce the charity event "Letters To Santa: The 24 Hour Comedy and Music Marathon" at various venues around Christmas.

Here are some more memories from Chicago luminaries:

Susan Messing, actress/comedian: "This man was a music legend but he was also the mensch to the core that brought my late husband a blanket to the ICU, mentored and loved my daughter, and was the best husband in the world to the incredible Heather Whinna. My heart and all hearts who knew him are broken."

Fred Armisen, musician/comedian: "I love Steve so much. We said it more often to each other in recent years. I'm so glad I got to tell him. He was so funny, all the time. He was such a good friend to me, endlessly. I admired his work ethic and his warmth. And his opinions on national flags."

Jason Narducy, musician: "This is a very sad day. His influence is astounding and carries across platforms. His music, his recording style, his business ethos, his recipe blog… He also became one of the best poker players in the world. Steve recently said in an interview that Chicago is the best city in the world. We were lucky to have him."

Robbie Fulks, musician: "I met Steve in October 1986. Except for a couple people from college he was my oldest ongoing friend through life. I was intimidated by him at first, because his house always seemed to be crawling with lethargic hat-wearing young toughs from bands with "Kill" in their name. But also from the first, I connected with his zeal for language, eye-poking, scientific bent, and wit. What I learned about record-making from him in my 20s I retained, as best i could, and continue to use and gain from."

• "I'll very much miss the stuff that came rolling off his tongue — hilarious, scabrous, eloquent, and awful — as well as his generosity and commitment to the art of friendship. There's just no one else quite like him."