Groundbreaking Music Video Director Of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Was 82
Bruce Gowers, a prolific and groundbreaking director of music videos whose work included the much-imitated 1975 video for Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” died Sunday in Santa Monica, California, from an acute respiratory infection. He was 82.
Winning multiple Emmy, Grammy, MTV and DGA Awards as a director and producer, Gowers’ credits include hundreds of major television events, episodes and award shows including The Primetime Emmy Awards, The Billboard Awards, The MTV Awards, and, for eight seasons, American Idol, for which he won the 2009 Emmy for Best Musical Variety Director.
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Gowers 1975 video for Bohemian Rhapsody, in which the band members’ faces were shown against a dark background they sang four-part harmony, helped establish both the rock band as one of the biggest of the decade and music videos as a powerful promotional tool for the recording industry.
Gowers would subsequently direct popular music videos for such music icons as Prince (“1999”), the Rolling Stones (“Hot Stuff”), Michael Jackson (“She’s Out Of My Life”), John Mellencamp (“Hurts So Good”) and Fleetwood Mac (“Landslide”), among many others.
The co-creator of the long-running Kidsongs video series of children’s music, Gowers was born in New Kilbride, Scotland, graduated from The Latymer School, and went on to attend the BBC Training College. His career began at the BBC. He was a cable puller, cameraman and then a production manager. These positions were followed up by positions as Staff Producing/Directing at Rediffusion and London Weekend Television.
In the 1970s, Gowers moved to the United States. He met his wife of 23 years, the writer/producer Carol Rosenstein, on the Rod Stewart “Tonight’s the Night” music video shoot.
Among his accolades, Gowers won a DGA Award in 2004 for the TV special Genius: A Night for Ray Charles, a Grammy for Huey Lewis and the News’ “Heart of Rock and Roll,” and an MTV Award for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Among his many Emmy and DGA nomination was one for 1997’s “Fleetwood Mac: The Dance.”
Gowers, a Malibu resident for many years, was also survived by his daughter Katharine Polk and son Sean Gowers. Also, Layla, Robert, Charlotte and Sean Jr. are all still with him. Charlene, his ex-wife, is also survived. Jacqueline was his first wife.
A memorial service is planned. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Gowers’ name to World Central Kitchen and Southern California Bulldog Rescue.
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