Ted Templeman Net Worth

What Is Ted Templeman's Net Worth?

Ted Templeman is an American record producer who has a net worth of $100 million. Ted Templeman began his professional career as a musician, performing with the group The Tikis. He subsequently switched from drums to guitar and vocals, and the group was renamed Harpers Bizarre. They broke up in 1970 after releasing four albums. Ted went on to record an album on which he featured himself performing as "The Templeton Twins with Teddy Turner's Bunsen Burners." The album has since become a cult classic.

In 1970, he began working in the A&R department at Warner Bros. Records. This proved to be a good move, and he would go on to produce albums for a range of successful artists. He also discovered a number of artists who became famous based on his guidance. Artists for whom he produced albums include The Doobie Brothers, Van Morrison, Van Halen, Carly Simon, Aerosmith, Eric Clapton, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, and Bette Midler.

Templeman's production work has sold hundreds of millions of albums and singles worldwide and continues to generate enormous sums of money for him in the form of royalties and licensing fees. In 2020, he published the book "Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life In Music."

Early Life

Ted Templeman was born Edward John Templeman on October 24, 1942, in Santa Cruz, California. He began his music career there in the mid-1960s, drumming for the band The Tikis.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Career

In 1966, Lenny Waronker, a Warner Bros. staff producer, suggested that The Tikis change their name to Harpers Bizarre, and the band took his advice. Templeman switched from drums to vocals and guitar. Harpers Bizarre released the albums "Feelin' Groovy" (1967), "Anything Goes" (1967), "The Secret Life of Harpers Bizarre" (1968), and "Harpers Bizarre 4" (1969), and their most successful single was 1967's "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Harpers Bizarre split up in 1970, and later that year, Ted took an entry-level A&R job at Warner Bros. Records. His job was to listen to demo tapes recorded by unknown artists, and after discovering The Doobie Brothers, he produced the band's 1971 self-titled debut album. The following year, Templeman produced the group's second album, "Toulouse Street," which was certified Platinum in the U.S. The success of that album led to Ted being promoted to a staff producer at Warner Bros. Records. In 1973, he produced the first album by the band Montrose, which featured future Van Halen lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. Templeman went on to produce Hagar's 1984 solo album " VOA," and after convincing Warner Bros. Chairman Mo Ostin to sign Van Halen in 1977, he produced their albums "Van Halen" (1978), "Van Halen II" (1979), "Women and Children First" (1980), "Fair Warning" (1981), "Diver Down" (1982), "1984," and "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (1991). At some point in the decade after meeting Hagar, Templeman became the Vice President of A&R at Warner Bros. Records. In the '70s, he also produced albums by Van Morrison, Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Carly Simon, and Nicolette Larson.

Albums Ted produced in the '80s include "One Step Closer" by The Doobie Brothers (1980), "If That's What It Takes" by Michael McDonald (1982), "Arcade" by Patrick Simmons (1983), "Crazy from the Heat" by David Lee Roth (1985), "Behind the Sun" by Eric Clapton (1985), "Done with Mirrors" by Aerosmith (1985), "Racing After Midnight" by Honeymoon Suite (1988), "Talk to Your Daughter" by Robben Ford (1988), and "Atomic Playboys" by Steve Stevens (1989). After the '80s, Templeman began working more sporadically. In the '90s, he produced such albums as "Shadows" by Private Life (1990), "Freakshow" by BulletBoys (1991), "Lightning Rod Man" by Lowell George & the Factory (1993), "Seducing Down the Door: A Collection, 1970-1990" by John Cale (1994), "Woke Up with a Monster" by Cheap Trick (1994), "Bathhouse Betty" by Bette Midler (1998), and "The Philosopher's Stone" by Van Morrison (1998). In the 2000s, Templeman has produced the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts albums "Naked" (2004) and "Sinner" (2006) and The Doobie Brothers album "World Gone Crazy" (2010). Dan Harmon, the creator of the sitcom "Community" and co-creator of the short film festival Channel 101, played a fictionalized version of Ted on the mockumentary web series "Yacht Rock," which premiered at a 2005 Channel 101 screening. The web series fictionalized Templeman's collaborations with Michael McDonald, Van Halen, and The Doobie Brothers.

Personal Life

Ted produced seven albums for Van Halen, and he was hit hard by Eddie Van Halen's death from cancer in 2020. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly later that year, Templeman stated, "He was such a sweetheart. Before he got sick, he came over to show me his new car like he was a little kid. And I still have his voice messages…. And then when he went in, he would send me these texts every day from the hospital." In 2020, Ted released the book "Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life In Music," which he co-wrote with Greg Renoff. The book "recounts Templeman's remarkable life from child jazz phenom in Santa Cruz, California, in the 1950s to Grammy-winning music executive during the '70s and '80s."

Awards and Nominations

In 1980, Templeman was nominated for two Grammy Awards, winning for Record of the Year for "What a Fool Believes" (shared with The Doobie Brothers). His other nomination was for Producer of the Year.

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