Andre Harrell, founder of Uptown Records and former head of Mo Town Records has died at age 59.
The veteran music executive who discovered Sean Combs better known as P. Diddy and later went on to head Motown Records died of a yet to be revealed illness.
DJ D Nice, a DJ for popular a Club Quarantine series revealed the sad news on Instagram Live on Friday night and several US media houses have confirmed his passing away.
Harrell started his career as an artiste, a member of the rap duo Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, whose single “Genius Rap” was a hit in 1981.
He started his own record company, Uptown Records, in 1986. Stylish, sophisticated and fashion-forward, the label played a key role in the development of the R&B style.
Harrell also signed the teenage Mary J. Blige in the late ’80s, though her career at the label didn’t fully take off until the early ’90s, with help from Harrell’s enterprising former intern P. Diddy.
The record executive was prominent in the music industry over the last four decades.
