L.A. Reid Makes Epic Exit
Antonio “L.A.” Reid is departing as Chairman of Epic Records after six years. That’s the word from Variety and several other sources. Reid’s exit comes a month after Rob Stringer assumed the CEO post at Sony Music Entertainment, succeeding Doug Morris. The veteran executive and producer joined Epic in July 2011, and during his six-year run, signed Meghan Trainor, Future, Travis Scott, Fifth Harmony, and DJ Khaled, the latter of whom currently has the No. 1 song in the U.S. with “I’m the One.” He also brought Mariah Carey back into the Sony Music fold, after having signed her at his previous position as chief executive of Island Def Jam.
Reid broke into the music business in the early ’80s in his hometown of Cincinnati as a drummer with the R&B band The Deele. He later moved to Atlanta, where, in 1989, Reid and his Deele bandmate Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds formed LaFace Records, a joint venture with Arista Records, and helped launch the careers of Usher, TLC and Pink, to name a few. In 2000, Arista absorbed LaFace and Reid became its new CEO. Under his watch, Usher’s 2004 Confessions album was certified diamond by the RIAA, selling more than 10 million copies in the U.S. Outkast‘s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was also a multi-platinum smash, winning three Grammys, including Album of the Year.
Later that year Reid transitioned to Island Def Jam, where he worked with Kanye West, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey. He also named Jay Z as the President of Def Jam. In early 2011 he left IDJ and joined Simon Cowell‘s singing competition The X Factor as a judge. Later that year he joined Epic. In February of 2016, Reid released his New York Times-bestselling autobiography, Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next. Reid was also given the green light to move Epic’s headquarters from New York to Los Angeles, where it is now based, along with Columbia Records, RCA Records and Sony/ATV Music Publishing on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City. No word yet as to who will replace Reid at the top of the Epic pyramid.
