Mo Ostin dies: the legendary music executive who managed Warner Bros records for decades and worked with top artists was 95

Mo Austin, the industry giant and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has maintained Warner Bros. Records for nearly a quarter of a century, working with some of the biggest names in music of all time, from Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young to Paolo Simone. Joni Mitchell and the Grateful Dead – The night she died in her sleep. She was 95 years old. Warner Records co-chairs Tom Corson and Aaron Bay-Shuck announced the news today, but didn’t elaborate.

“Mo was one of the greatest recording artists of all time and a key architect of the modern music business,” Corson said in a statement (read in full below). “For Mo, first of all, it has always been about helping artists realize their vision. A pivotal figure in the evolution of the Warner Music Group, Mo led Warner / Reprise Records into a golden age of revolutionary art that changed culture in the 1960s. Over the next three decades with the label, he remained a tireless advocate of creative freedom, both for the talent he cultivated and for the people who worked for him. “

The death of Hollywood and the media in 2022: photo gallery

Warner Recorded Music CEO Max Lusada added in a statement, “In an era where creative entrepreneurs are revered, we celebrate Mo Austin as a pioneer who wrote the rules for others to follow. Warner Music Group and Warner Records wouldn’t exist without his passion, vision and intelligence.

One of the architects of the modern music business, Austin worked at Verve Records before being hired by Frank Sinatra to help launch his Reprise Records GM. Austin was president of the new label when it was sold to Warner Bros. in 1963, and one of his first signings was a young London group called The Kinks. He went on to sign the then unknown Jimi Hendrix after his legendary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival.

In 1970, Austin was named president of Warner-Reprise and was named CEO and president in 1972. During his tenure, which ended in 1994, the label hosted the likes of Young, Mitchell, The Dead, Simon, Rod Stewart, James Taylor, Van Halen, The Who, Alice Cooper, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Red Hot Chili Peppers. and the green day.

Warner Bros also had Fleetwood Mac, whose 1977 series it was voices It spent over 30 weeks at number 1 in the United States and remains in the top ten best-selling albums, with 20 million units sold in the United States alone. It ranks sixth among the best single-disc studio albums of all time.

Austin was in office when Warner Bros. Records signed a resounding $ 80 million multi-album deal with REM. The band’s first WBR album, 1988 green, It was a complete success, but his next two CDs … out of time (1991) and For automatic people (1992) – established the old-fashioned “university band” as one of the greatest artists in the world.

Austin ran DreamWorks Records after it was founded by Steven Spielberg, David Katzenberg and David Geffen, with the latter’s Geffen Records distributing the label’s releases. Her first album was George Michael’s. elder in May 1996, followed by the underrated Eels debut a wonderful monster after a few months. DreamWorks Records was sold to Universal Music Group in 2003 and later joined Interscope Geffen A&M before closing in the mid-2000s.

Maurice Ostrofsky was born on March 27, 1927 in New York City, Austin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 by Young, Simon & SNL Creator and producer Lorne Michaels. “For him, first of all, there was the music and whoever made the music,” said Austin’s Michaels in an interview with Stan Cronin.

Austin leaves his sons Michael and Kenny. His son Randall, a longtime music executive, died in 2013.

Here is Corson’s full statement on Austin:

“Legendary music executive Mo Austin died peacefully in his sleep last night at the age of 95. Moe was one of the greatest recording artists of all time and a key architect in the world of modern music. For Mo, before. everything has always been about helping artists realize their vision. A pivotal figure in the evolution of the Warner Music Group, Mo led Warner / Reprise Records into a golden age of revolutionary art that changed culture in the 1960s. Over the next three decades with the label, he remained a tireless advocate of creative freedom, both for the talent he cultivated and for the people who worked for him. Moe lived an extraordinary life doing what he loved, and will be sorely missed throughout the industry he helped build and the countless artists and peers he inspired to be themselves. On behalf of all of Warner, we want to thank Mo for all he has done and for the inspiring confidence of him in our bright future. Our condolences to his family in this difficult time. “