Current:Home > NewsSeymour Stein, the record executive who signed Madonna, is dead at 80-InfoLens
Seymour Stein, the record executive who signed Madonna, is dead at 80
View Date:2024-12-23 15:41:02
NEW YORK — Seymour Stein, the brash, prescient and highly successful founder of Sire Records who helped launched the careers of Madonna, Talking Heads and many others, died Sunday at age 80.
Stein, who helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and was himself inducted into the Rock Hall in 2005, died of cancer in Los Angeles, according to a statement by his family.
Born in 1942, Stein was a New York City native who as a teenager worked summers at Cincinnati-based King Records, James Brown's label, and by his mid-20s had co-founded Sire Productions, soon to become Sire Records.
Obsessed with the Billboard music charts since childhood, he was known for his deep knowledge and appreciation of music and would prove an astute judge of talent during the 1970s era of New Wave, a term he helped popularize, signing record deals with Talking Heads, the Ramones and the Pretenders.
"Seymour's taste in music is always a couple of years ahead of everyone else's," Talking Heads manager Gary Kurfirst told the Rock Hall around the time of Stein's induction.
His most lucrative discovery happened in the early 1980s, when he heard the demo tape of a little known singer-dancer from the downtown New York club scene, Madonna.
"I liked Madonna's voice, I liked the feel, and I liked the name Madonna. I liked it all and played it again," he wrote in his memoir "Siren Song," published in 2018, the same year he retired. Stein was hospitalized with a heart infection when he first learned of Madonna, but was so eager to meet that he had her brought to his room.
"She was all dolled up in cheap punky gear, the kind of club kid who looked absurdly out of place in a cardiac ward," he wrote. "She wasn't even interested in hearing me explain how much I liked her demo. 'The thing to do now,' she said, 'is sign me to a record deal.'"
Sire artists also included Ice T, the Smiths, Depeche Mode, the Replacements and Echo and the Bunnymen, along with the more-established Lou Reed and Brian Wilson, who recorded with Sire later in their careers.
Stein was married briefly to record promoter and real estate executive Linda Adler, with whom he had two children: filmmaker Mandy Stein and Samantha Lee Jacobs, who died of brain cancer in 2013. Sidney Stein and his wife divorced in the 1970s and years later he came out as gay.
"I am beyond grateful for every minute our family spent with him, and that the music he brought to the world impacted so many people's lives in a positive way," Mandy Stein said in a statement Sunday.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- King Charles III celebrates 76th birthday amid cancer battle, opens food hubs
- Creditor in Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case seeks payback, speaks out
- Travis Kelce watches Eras Tour in London with Tom Cruise, Hugh Grant, other A-Listers
- Georgia woman nearly crushed after being dropped from dumpster into garbage truck
- Here's what 3 toys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year
- Pictures show summer solstice 2024 at Stonehenge
- What Paul McCartney said about Steven Van Zandt and other 'Disciple' HBO doc revelations
- Packers to name Ed Policy as new president and CEO, replacing retiring Mark Murphy
- US Congress hopes to 'pull back the curtain' on UFOs in latest hearing: How to watch
- Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer set for 2024 Rangers debut: 'Champing at the bit'
Ranking
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- Things to know about the gender-affirming care case as the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in
- US Olympic track and field trials highlights: Noah Lyles wins 100, Christian Coleman misses out
- Epik High's Tablo reflects on creating 'PUMP', upcoming US tour and the trio's legacy
- RHOP's Candiace Dillard Bassett Gives Birth, Shares First Photos of Baby Boy
- Hawaii reaches settlement with youth who sued over climate change
- Staples introduces free backpack and school supply recycling program: See what items they accept
- Bridgerton's Simone Ashley Defends Costar Nicola Coughlan Against Body-Shaming Comments
Recommendation
-
John Krasinski is People's Sexiest Man Alive. What that says about us.
-
Rip currents kill 4 in 48 hours: Panama City Beach on pace to be deadliest in US
-
Mining the Sun: Some in the Wyoming Epicenter of the Coal Industry Hope to Sustain Its Economy With Renewables
-
My day at the ballpark with Mr. and Mrs. Met, the first family of MLB mascots
-
Forget the bathroom. When renovating a home, a good roof is a no-brainer, experts say.
-
Hawaii reaches settlement with youth who sued over climate change
-
Packers to name Ed Policy as new president and CEO, replacing retiring Mark Murphy
-
Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer set for 2024 Rangers debut: 'Champing at the bit'