"Everyone at Universal Publishing was deeply saddened by the news of our dear friend Rod Temperton passing away last week. He was represented as a songwriter from the very beginning by our subsidiary Rondor Music, and anyone who had the honour of building a relationship with him would know he was a very special and unique person as well as an immense talent. 

In a modern world where a song is written by any number of collaborators, he wrote nearly all of his stellar hits solely on his own. Those songs then went on to create some of the biggest superstars in history, but Rod never once sought publicity for himself. Quite the opposite in fact. His love and passion (other than the love of his life Kathy) was songwriting, which he continued to do until the very end.

He was a true gentleman, an endless pleasure to work with. Funny, charismatic, down-to-earth and unfazed by the extraordinary success he had achieved. It was always about the future with Rod, and the next song he was going to write that was going to be bigger and better than any of the other massive hits he had already written.

Our deepest condolences go to his friend and attorney Jay Cooper; his co-pilot on most of his huge success, Quincy Jones; to his publisher throughout his entire career Lance Freed - formerly of Rondor/ Universal; and most of all to his wife, soulmate and constant inspiration Kathy Temperton."

Mike McCormack, Managing Director UMPG UK