Seymour Stein, music producer who hired Madonna, dies
The man who helped launch the careers of Madonna, the Talking Heads and the Ramones – Seymour Stein – has died aged 80.
Stein died of cancer in Los Angeles, according to a statement from his family.
Throughout his star-studded career, Stein has also worked with the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, Depeche Mode, The Pretenders, The Smiths, The Cure and many more.
Madonna took to Twitter to mourn her loss, as well as expressing her gratitude, describing Stein as “one of the most influential men” in her life.
Early start in the music industry
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942, Stein was already a clerk at the music magazine Billboard at the age of 13, helping to develop the Billboard Hot 100, launched in August 1958.
In his late teens, Stein worked summers at Cincinnati-based King Records, James Brown’s label, and in his early 20s he co-founded Sire Productions, which soon became Sire Records.
Stein was briefly married to record promoter Linda Adler, with whom he had two children: filmmaker Mandy Stein and Samantha Lee Jacobs, who died of brain cancer in 2013.
Stein and Adler divorced in the 1970s and Stein later came out as gay.
Stein’s label Sire was acquired by Warner Bros in 1978, and over the next two decades Warner signed acts such as The Replacements, Echo & the Bunnymen, Madness, The Undertones, The Smiths and frontman Morrissey.
Brian Wilson, Seal, Ice-T, Lou Reed and Everything But the Girl also joined the group.
Signing Madonna while in the hospital
In the early 1980s, Stein made what would become the biggest discovery of his illustrious career after listening to a demo tape by a little-known artist from the 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 memoirs. siren songreleased in 2018.
Stein was in the hospital with a heart infection at the time of his career-defining discovery. He was so eager, however, to meet the future legend that he brought her to his hospital room.
“She was decked out in cheap punk clothes, the kind of club girl 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 to sign me to a record deal.'”
‘He changed my world’
Many others who worked with Stein took to social media to mourn his loss, led by Madonna.
“Seymour Stein left us! Gotta catch my breath. He was one of the most influential men in my life!! He changed and shaped my world. I must explain,” she tweeted with a longer Instagram post.
The Smiths guitarist and co-songwriter Johnny Marr tweeted: “Legendary record man. Signed me to Sire Records in 1984 and bought my 48th Street Red 355 to close the deal. Worked with The Drifters, Rolling Stones and Shangri-Las. Discovered Talking Heads, Ramones and Madonna Congratulations Seymour and thank you my friend.”
American rap artist Ice-T posted: “It’s a sad day for me and all of music. Love you Seymour.”
Source: DW
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