Features
Former Motown Prexy Dies
Jheryl Busby, former president and CEO of Motown Records, died Nov. 4 in Los Angeles of unknown causes. He was 59.
Busby entered the recording industry at Stax Records before moving on to positions at companies including Casablanca, CBS, A&M, Atlantic and MCA Records, according to Urban Network magazine.
During his time at Motown in the ’80s, he promoted new acts including Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men while building hit projects for artists like Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross.
Busby was instrumental in launching New Edition at MCA and building the label into a $50 million annual moneymaker in the ’80s, Urban Network reported. He started out at Mattel Inc., where he became a new-toy coordinator.