{{Short description|American mastering engineer from Texas (died 2026)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist | background = | name = Chris Athens | birth_name = | origin = Austin, Texas, U.S. | occupation = Mastering engineer | years_active = mid-1990s–? | website = {{URL|chrisathensmasters.com}} }}
'''Chris Athens''' (died March 2026) was an American mastering engineer from Stony Point, New York. He began his career at Sony Music Studios in New York in the mid-90s, where he worked until 1998, when he moved to Sterling Sound, where he worked for 13 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fleischer |first=Adam |date=May 6, 2016 |title=This Guy Had 48 Hours To Master Drake's 'Views' — Here's How He Did It |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/sgb5l8/chris-athens-drake-views-mastered |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203063948/https://www.mtv.com/news/sgb5l8/chris-athens-drake-views-mastered |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |access-date=November 24, 2023 |website=MTV |language=en}}</ref> In 2010, he founded his own studio, Chris Athens Masters, in his hometown of Austin, Texas.<ref name="musictech">{{Cite web |url=https://musictech.com/news/industry/mastering-engineer-chris-athens-passed-away/ |title=Renowned mastering engineer Chris Athens has died |first1=Rachel |last1=Roberts |date=March 24, 2026 |website=MusicTech.com |access-date=March 24, 2026 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20260404070429/https://musictech.com/news/industry/mastering-engineer-chris-athens-passed-away/ |url-status=live |archive-date=April 4, 2026 }}</ref>
As of 2026, Athens was a six-time Grammy Awards nominee. He received his first Grammy Award for Best Historical Album nomination at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000 for ''Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century''.
His work with Canadian musician Drake earned him two Grammy Award for Album of the Year nominations – at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017 for ''Views'' and at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019 for ''Scorpion'', as well as a Grammy Award for Record of the Year nomination for "God's Plan". He also has two Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical nominations for Ella Mai's eponymous debut studio album and Robert Glasper's ''Black Radio III''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Athens {{!}} Artist {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/chris-athens/975 |access-date=November 24, 2023 |website=www.grammy.com}}</ref>
In 2018, at the 19th Annual Latin Grammy Awards Athens received two Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year nominations for Bomba Estéreo's "Internacionales" and Rosalía's "Malamente". The following year, at the 20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, he achieved his third nomination in the respective category with Rosalía's "Aute Cuture", along the way winning a Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year and a Latin Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album both for Rosalía's ''El mal querer''. At the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards held in 2021, C. Tangana's song "Te Olvidaste" brought the engineer his fourth Record of the Year nomination, while C. Tangana's album ''El Madrileño'' gave him an Album of the Year nomination and Best Engineered Album win.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Athens {{!}} Artist {{!}} LatinGRAMMY.com |url=https://www.latingrammy.com/artists/chris-athens/33899-01 |access-date=November 24, 2023 |website=www.latingrammy.com |language=en}}</ref>
Athens died in March 2026.<ref name="musictech" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{AllMusic|id=mn0000089033|title=Chris Athens}} * {{Discogs artist|artist=237914|name=Chris Athens}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Athens, Chris}} Category:20th-century births Category:Year of birth missing Category:2026 deaths Category:People from Texas Category:Mastering engineers Category:American audio engineers Category:Latin Grammy Award winners