Nick Patrick was born in London. His father, Victor Patrick, was a journalist of Russian and Scottish descent who became deputy editor of the Sunday Express newspaper. His mother, Beth Patrick, also a journalist, was an Australian national who immigrated at age 33 to the UK. He attended the Westminster Under School in London, Millfield in Somerset, and Emanuel College in London, where he played in various bands.
Career
His music career began in earnest at Lansdowne Studios in London, where he worked first as a runner, then as a recording engineer, engineering on Gerry Rafferty's 1979 album Night Owl, among others. He went on to work as a recording engineer at Odyssey Studios, for example on Marvin Gaye's 1981 album In Our Lifetime?, and as a freelancer. Around 1984 he began producing albums. During the late 1980s and 1990s he produced recordings by numerous international and world music artists, including Mory Kanté, the Gipsy Kings, Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour, Miriam Makeba, and Hugh Masekela. His first Grammy nomination came for the Gipsy Kings' 1991 albumEste Mundo. Beginning in 1991, he also began specializing in producing classical and opera crossover artists, beginning with tenor Russell Watson's album The Voice. He has gone on to produce, mix, and arrange recordings by Il Divo, Bryn Terfel, Hans Zimmer, Jonas Kaufmann, 2Cellos,, Hayley Westenra, Jackie Evancho, and others. His second Grammy-nominated project was the West Side Story50th Anniversary recording released in 2007. Patrick has also specialized in producing projects that combine original recorded vocals by classic singers and groups with new orchestral arrangements. These artists include Aretha Franklin, Bing Crosby, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and the Beach Boys. His third Grammy nomination came for the albumStandards by Seal. Another focus of his career has been raising funds for UK Armed Services charities. For this purpose he founded CPW Productions in 2009, which raised money via album sales from musical trioThe Soldiers, whose 2009 double-platinum album Coming Home and platinum-selling 2010 follow-up Letters Home was produced by Patrick. Between 2001 and 2018, albums he produced – by Blake, Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson, and Michael Ball and Alfie Boe – won a total of eight Classic BRIT Awards. In the week of 25 April 2020, Hauser's album Classic, produced by Nick Patrick, was #1 on Billboard's "Traditional Classical Albums" chart.
Personal life
Nick Patrick and his wife Beverley have two children, Kit Patrick, who is in the film business, and Charlie Patrick, a personal trainer.