Sylvia Rhone Biography

Born on March 11, 1952, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and reared in Harlem, Rhone has credited her early exposure to noteworthy R&B performances at the Apollo Theatre with inspiring her confidence in music as a motivating force. Rhone received admission to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and earned a B.S. in economics. Soon after graduating, she landed work at Bankers Trust in New York City. Still, she continued to pursue her love of music by securing a position as a secretary for Buddha Records in 1974. She also held jobs at A.B.C. Records and Ariola Records in a series of promotions over the following six years. Before becoming head of national black music marketing for Atlantic Records, Rhone served as northeast regional promotion manager for select markets for Elektra in 1980. When Rhone was promoted to senior vice president and general manager of Atlantic Records in 1986, she had greater responsibility in A&R and marketing. Rhone is credited with helping to refocus Atlantic's black music business. En Vogue, The System, Levert, Brandy, Yo Yo, The D.O.C., MC Lyte, Chuckii Booker, Miki Howard, Gerald Albright, and The Rude Boys were among the acts Rhone oversaw at Atlantic. She managed Atlantic, which Billboard magazine ranked as the top Black Music Division in 1988. In Rhone's career, several firsts have stood out. When she was appointed C.E.O. and president of Atlantic's EastWest Records America branch in 1990, she made history by being the first African American woman to lead a major record label. Rhone was appointed chairperson and C.E.O. of Atco/EastWest and then of EastWest Records America a year after the operations and artist roster of EastWest Records were merged with those of Atco Records. She helped existing performers like En Vogue, Gerald Levert, Pantera, and Das E.F.X. achieve fresh success while at EastWest by personally introducing several up-and-coming artists. She also helped AC/DC and Simply Red, who later became E.E.G. musicians, advance their careers. Rhone was named executive vice president of Universal Records and president of Motown Records in October 2004. Before joining Universal Motown, Rhone was chairperson and C.E.O. of Elektra Entertainment Group, where she helped the boutique label grow into one of the industry's most diverse rosters. Rhone was the first woman and the first African American to hold this position in the history of the music business when she was appointed chairperson and C.E.O. of E.E.G. in 1994. As of 2012, Rhone serves as C.E.O. of Vested in Culture, the record company she created and which has a distribution agreement with Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

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