Seymour Stein, the highly successful founder of Sire Records who helped launched the careers of Madonna, Talking Heads and many others, died Sunday at the age of 80 after a long battle with cancer.

Stein, who helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and was himself inducted into the Rock Hall in 2005, died of cancer in Los Angeles, according to a statement by his family.

Born in 1942, Stein was a New York City native who as a teenager worked summers at Cincinnati-based King Records, James Brown's label, and by his mid-20s had co-founded Sire Productions, soon to become Sire Records.

His most lucrative discovery happened in the early 1980s, when he heard the demo tape of a little known singer-dancer from the downtown New York club scene, Madonna. Stein was in hospital at the time and met Madonna in his hospital room, while recovering from open-heart surgery.

In an interview with this journalist held at the Mix Radio Music Connects 2014, Seymour had stated that Madonna had infact managed her own career, though he was a part of her success in a big wat. “Madonna would have been a star, no matter who found her” stated the record head. “She had everything going for her. My role primarily, was the fact that I was the first one to see it and believe in her, sign her and get her career rolling. Madonna isn’t comparable to many others. Someone like her doesn’t come along every six months, or six years. You know, she is someone that comes along only once. But then there are others too, but the best part, was that I believed in her, which was very very strong. I helped set her up with Sire Records, through Warner Brothers records, amazing and incredible producers, with publicists, with a woman named Liz Rosenberg. Madonna isn’t one that comes even in a lifetime, Madonna comes along once. There’s one Madonna. You cannot replicate her, even though many people try”.

To read the whole interview, click on the link below:

https://www.musicunplugged.in/interviews/interviews_info/55/0