Seymour Stein, American Music Industry Legend, Dies at 80

Seymour Stein, the legendary Sire Records founder who signed Madonna, The Ramones, and many others, has died aged 80.

Without Stein’s input, sharp ears and A&R acumen, the pop and rock space today would be unrecognisable.

Stein co-founded Sire Records in 1967 with Richard Gottehrer, and, a decade later, in 1978 formed a decades-long partnership with Warner Music Group.

From left to right: Lars Brandle (TMN), Peter Jenner (manager of Billy Bragg, former manager of Pink Floyd), Jonathan Poneman (co-founder Sub Pop, signed Nirvana), Seymour Stein (Sire Records chairman, signed Madonna and the Ramones), Stephen Peach (former CEO of ARIA) and Marcus Seal (former MD of Shock Group).

The alliance would create a conveyor belt for hits, with Stein signing such chart stars and influential punk era bands as Madonna and Talking Heads, the Ramones, The Pretenders, The Smiths, The Cure, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Replacements and others.

In 2018, Variety placed Sire at No. 15 in a poll of the most important labels for the past century.

The New Yorker wasn’t afraid of a long flight.

He made regular trips to Australia, speaking at Bigsound in 2008 and 2011, and for the now defunct One Movement event in Perth back in 2010, where he shared his extraordinary stories of the golden age of the record business and advocated for emerging markets.

One of those stories he recounted was back in 1982 when he signed Madonna from his hospital bed, while being treated for the heart condition. Stein told this reported he had insisted on having a shave, from his bed, before the cameras captured the big moment. He had a story for every occasion.

He accurately predicted that the industries in India and China would “explode” as technology, investment and alternatives to piracy reshaped those markets; China is now ranked No. 5 by the IFPI, pushing France into sixth place for the first time.

Over time, Stein signed a slew of Australian acts, from The Mixtures, Radio Birdman, The Saints and The Go-Betweens in the ‘70s through to The Avalanches, The Veronicas, Taxiride and NZ-formed, Sydney-based Evermore.

Seymour Stein

Stein was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, received Billboard’s Icon Award at the 2012 edition of MIDEM, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016 and received the Recording Academy’s Trustees Award in 2018, the same year Stein announced his departure from the WMG.

Henry Rollins, while presenting him with a Recording Academy’s special award, called him the “ultimate visionary indie, hearts and minds music executive of all time”.

Stein’s daughter, filmmaker Mandy Stein, told The Hollywood Reporter her father died Sunday morning (April 2) in Los Angeles, following a battle with cancer.

“I grew up surrounded by music,” she says in a statement.

“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. He gave me the ultimate soundtrack, as well as his wicked sense of humor. 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.”