Remembering Herb Rosen
• We’ve lost another legend — we were saddened to learn that legendary New York promotion man Herb Rosen, an industry icon who seemingly knew everyone and had famously “seen and done it all” during his colorful career, died Wednesday, April 7 at the age of 89.
Rosen had worked for Mercury and Kapp Records in New York before famously hanging out the shingle and running his own promotion company. Over the course of several decades, Rosen had a profound effect on everyone who had the pleasure of coming into his orbit. As Michael Ellis, currently a consultant for Musicrunch and HitPredictor, fondly recalls, “For anyone who worked at radio stations or record labels in New York all the way back to the glory days of WABC, Herb Rosen was a beloved mentor and respected colleague. He had a great sense of humor and always had a funny story to light up your day. I looked forward to his weekly visits and our many lunches, starting with my time as Music Director of WKTU and Z100 from 1979 to 1984.”
“Herb Rosen was the most important person in my life in the music business and I’m saddened to learn that he passed away,” said Bob Catania of What’s In Store Music, who used to have breakfast with Rosen at least once a week when he worked in New York. “Herbie’s passing leaves a huge hole in my heart and has unleashed endless memories of this man I loved so much,” Catania said. “Herbie knew EVERYONE and had done EVERYTHING in the music biz. He was a mix of intellectual genius and street smarts like I had never encountered… He was my music business ‘dad’ and he was the first person I went to with any problem. He always had a calming effect on me and great guidance on any issue I had.”
Rosen leaves behind his daughter, Julie, and sons Rob and Matt. As Julie said of her Dad, “He wasn’t just inthe business, he lived the business. Everyone should love what they do as much as he did… with charisma and humor… he was the best of the best, New York’s finest. He was indeed a legend.” There are many more classic Herb Rosen photos and some great memories posted on Julie Rosen’s Facebook page.
