Seymour Stein, Sire Records executive who signed Talking Heads and Madonna, dies aged 80

Known as a tastemaker of the 1970s music scene, Stein also worked with The Pretenders, Ice T, The Smiths, and Aphex Twin

Seymour Stein, the co-founder of Sire Records, died on Sunday (2 April) at the age of 80.

The infuential record executive, who signed Madonna, Talking Heads, and the Ramones, had been treated for cancer.

Stein founded the Sire record label aged 24 and had a penchant for signing artists with an edge and a voice that refused to be silenced.

He found and nurtured an impressive array of new talent throughout his career, including The Pretenders, Ice T, The Smiths, Depeche Mode and Aphex Twin, before retiring in 2018 at the age of 75.

Born Seymour Steinbigle on 18 April 1942, Stein always had a passion for music, writing in his autobiography that he knew he wanted to be in the music business since the age of nine.

By the age of 16, he was working for Billboard, before starting his record label in 1966 with producer and songwriter Richard Gottehrer. The label was acquired by Warner Bros in 1977, and Stein would go on to become vice president of Warner Bros Records.

While admitted to the hospital and awaiting open heart surgery in 1982, Stein gave Madonna her first record deal, after the punkily dressed 24-year-old visited him in the cardio ward. She was signed with an advance of $15,000 after Stein heard a demo of her song “Everybody”.

In 1983, he helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation before being inducted himself to the Rock Hall in 2005 as a non-performer.

“Seymour’s taste in music is always a couple of years ahead of everyone else’s” Talking Heads manager Gary Kurkfirst told the Rock Hall at the time.

Following his death, Stein’s daughter Mandy released a statement.

“I didn’t have the most conventional upbringing, but I wouldn’t change my life and my relationship with my dad for anything,” she said.

“He was a loving and caring granddad who took pleasure in every moment with his three granddaughters.”