Who was Seymour Stein? All about the Sire Records music mogul in wake of his death at 80

Entrepreneur and music executive Seymour Stein recently passed away on April 2 at the age of 80. A spokesperson revealed that Stein had been battling cancer for a long time, which eventually led to his death.

Popular musician Jerry Harrison paid tribute to Stein on Facebook by sharing a black-and-white picture. He described Harrison as a "true original and a remarkable record man." Harrison added:

"For decades his taste was spot on and there are very few who can match his track record. He also had the good sense and confidence to let artists make their own decisions: Talking Heads determined the direction of each album, designed all of our early covers, and directed out own videos. We were lucky to have such a strong ally who had both confidence in us and his intuition."

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Another musician, Steve Stevens, posted a picture of Stein and wrote that he was one of the early "US record guys who believed in punk and new wave artists" and signed them to his record label, Sire. Stevens mentioned that Stein played an important role in getting the bands noticed during the 80s.

Blondie's co-founder and guitarist Chris Stein also expressed his grief and wrote:

"The last time I saw Seymour Stein at a Blondie gig at the Greek, LA 2019, posing with Rodney. Seymour always got it, he always saw it. RIP Seymour and all my love to @mandessa and his family."

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Seymour Stein was mostly known as the co-founder of Sire Records

Seymour Stein established Sire Records in 1966 (Image via Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

Born on April 18, 1942, Seymour Stein was employed at King Records for a year before joining Billboard in 1958. He then joined Red Bird Records in 1966 and the same year, he established Sire Productions with record producer Richard Gottehrer, leading to the formation of Sire Records.

London Records was involved in the distribution of the initial releases for the record label and they played an important role in the introduction of different bands in the market. Their distribution was later handled by Polydor Records, Famous Music, and ABC Records.

Sire Records released several compilation albums and are known for the release of the single by Climax Blues Band, Couldn't Get It Right. Released in 1977, the single managed to reach 3rd position on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Sire Records became a famous record label by the 70s and they eventually collaborated with Warner Bros. Records in 1977. They became successful with more acts in the US and Canada, and while Elektra Records joined them for distribution in 1994, Seymour Stein joined the latter as president.

The company signed a deal with The Tragically Hip in 1998 and Rani Hancock joined as president in July 2017. Stein exited the company in July 2018.

Stein's survivors include his daughter and film director Mandy Stein, three grandchildren, and sister Ann Wiederkehr.