Seymour Stein, music mogul who discovered Madonna, dies of cancer

Seymour Stein, who began his career at Billboard aged just 16 and went on to become the vice president at Warner Bros Records and the co-founder of his own company, Sire Records, has died aged 80.

His daughter, the filmmaker Mandy Stein, announced the news of her father’s death on Sunday.

The first artist Seymour ever signed was Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, and he went on to play a major role in launching the careers of stars like Madonna, Depeche Mode and The Cure to name just a few.

When it came to Madonna, Seymour was famously quoted as saying: “This woman is smarter than all of us. Just get out of her way.”

He revealed that he originally signed her because he “believed in” the expertise of DJ Mark Kamins, who was at that time aspiring to be a producer – and, millions of records later, it turned out to be one of the biggest success stories he ever created.

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Besides signing Madonna, he was also among those responsible for introducing Talking Heads, The Ramones, The Smiths, The Pretenders, Depeche Mode and The Cure to the world.

When he first signed Steven Tyler, who was known as Steven Tallarico at the time, he was in a group called Chain Reaction, but, under Seymour’s wing, he soon became the leader of Aerosmith instead.

Seymour’s passion for the music industry began early, with the mogul telling anyone who would listen that he wanted to be in the business, from the age of nine years old.

He later explained his early days at Billboard as being the “schooling” that paved the way for his glittering career.

The magazine’s former editor, Paul Ackerman, invited him to music review sessions every Wednesday night, and even provided him with a hotel in town, allowing him to get up early and take the subway to Lafayette High School in Brooklyn.

This meant the New Yorker could combine his studies with his career, and he stayed at the magazine until 1961, when he began working with Syd Nathan and King Records in Cincinnati.

He also had a stint at Red Bird Records, but one of the defining moments for the star was co-founding Sire Records with Richard Gottehrer in 1967.

Almost a decade later, Sire joined forces with Warner Bros, and his career accelerated further.

In 2005, Seymour’s contributions to the industry were recognised with a lifetime achievement award and induction into Hollywood’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, one of his proudest moments.

Seymour, who also received an Icon Award from Billboard – the first brand to trust in his potential – even penned his own autobiography about life in the industry, entitled Siren Song.

Now, more than 60 years after his first record label job, the world is devastated to learn of his death, following a long battle with cancer.

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