Seymour Stein, the man who helped launch Madonna’s career, has died aged 80 after a long battle with cancer.
The powerful music executive co-founded Sire Records with Richard Gottehrer in 1966 and they helped put the likes of Talking Heads, The Ramones and The Pretenders on the road to stardom, as well as the burgeoning Madonna in 1982, who then went on to enjoy a stellar career.
He famously signed her, then an unknown Manhattan club act, when she visited him at the side of his hospital bed after he was recovering from having open-heart surgery.
While with Sire, she racked up 10 number one singles, three chart-topping albums and a total of 23 top-10 hits before launching her own Maverick label in 1992.
Stein was a champion of new wave and punk rock, also snapping up Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen and The Undertones for his company. He was also part of the group of industry professionals who started the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sire also signed Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, for whom he released his first solo album in 1988. Seal, k.d. lang and Lou Reed were also among the label’s roster.
Stein’s later years were filled with tragedy, with his ex-wife Linda being murdered by her personal assistant in 2007, while their daughter Samantha Jacobs died of brain cancer six years later.
In a statement issued on Sunday night, daughter Mandy Stein said, “I grew up surrounded by music. I didn’t have the most conventional upbringing, but I wouldn’t change my life and my relationship with my dad for anything, and he was a loving and caring grandfather who took pleasure in every moment with his three granddaughters.
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“He gave me the ultimate soundtrack, as well as his wicked sense of humour. 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.”
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