Sylvia Rhone facts for kids

Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952) is a very important person in the music industry. She is an American record company executive. Since 2019, she has been the top boss, called the chair and CEO, of Epic Records. This record label is part of Sony Music Entertainment.

Before her current role, Sylvia Rhone held many senior jobs at other big music companies. These included Vested In Culture, Universal Motown, Elektra Entertainment Group, and Atlantic Records.

In 2004, Sylvia Rhone became the president of Motown Records. She also became an executive vice president at Universal Records. Before that, in 1994, she made history. She was named chairwoman and CEO of the Elektra Entertainment Group. This made her the first woman and the first African American person to ever hold such a high position in the recording industry.

Early Life and Education

Sylvia Rhone was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 11, 1952. She grew up in Harlem, New York. She often talks about how seeing amazing R&B shows at the Apollo Theatre when she was young helped her believe in the power of music.

She was inspired by R&B artists like Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. She also loved rock music from artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Sylvia Rhone went to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a degree in Economics.

Starting Her Music Career

After college, Sylvia Rhone first worked at a bank in New York City. But she really loved music. So, in 1974, she got a job as a secretary at Buddha Records.

Over the next six years, she moved up quickly. She worked at ABC Records and Ariola Records. In 1980, she joined the Elektra family. She started as a regional manager helping promote music. Later, she became the director of national Black music marketing for Atlantic Records.

Leading at Atlantic Records

Sylvia Rhone helped make Atlantic Records' Black music division very successful. In 1986, she got a bigger role as senior vice president and general manager of Atlantic Records.

At Atlantic, she worked with many famous artists. These included En Vogue, the System, Levert, Brandy, MC Lyte, and Miki Howard. Because of her great leadership, Billboard magazine named Atlantic the top Black Music Division in 1988.

Sylvia Rhone achieved many "firsts" in her career. In 1990, she became the first African American woman to lead a major record company. She was named CEO and president of Atlantic's EastWest Records America division. A year later, she became chairwoman and CEO of Atco/EastWest.

At EastWest, she helped new artists become famous. She also helped established stars find new success. Some of these artists were En Vogue, Gerald Levert, Pantera, and Das EFX. She also helped the careers of AC/DC and Simply Red. Atlantic Records' founder, Ahmet Ertegun, praised her work. He called her leadership "innovation, imagination, and freshness."

In 1993, Ebony magazine recognized her. They called her one of the top rising Black executives in entertainment.

Elektra Entertainment Group Leadership

In 1994, Sylvia Rhone was hired by Warner Music Group. She became chairwoman and CEO of the Elektra Entertainment Group. The Los Angeles Times called her "the most powerful woman in the music business." They noted she was the only African American person and the first woman to hold this dual title.

Sylvia Rhone guided the joining of Elektra, EastWest, and Sire Records. She turned them into one of Warner Music Group's most successful labels. She was directly involved in launching and guiding many best-selling artists. These included Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Tracy Chapman, Metallica, Natalie Merchant, Jason Mraz, and Third Eye Blind.

Motown and Universal Motown Records

In 2004, Sylvia Rhone became president of Motown Records. She also became an executive vice president of Universal Records. Leaders at Universal Music Group praised her. They called her a "rainmaker" and a "natural to lead Motown's evolution."

Under her leadership, Motown became strong again. She updated the label to work well with digital music. Sylvia Rhone added artists like Akon, India.Arie, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, and Chamillionaire to the label.

In 2006, Universal Music split into two labels. Sylvia Rhone became president of Universal Motown Records. She helped raise the global fame of Cash Money Records. She also made sure Universal Motown artists connected more with fans using social media.

Sylvia Rhone decided not to sign Drake at that time. Drake later became one of the biggest artists in the world. She left her role as president of the company in 2011.

Epic Records and Vested In Culture

In 2012, Sylvia Rhone started her own record label called Vested In Culture. It worked with Epic Records for distribution. In 2014, she was named President of Epic Records.

At Epic, she oversaw the release of huge projects. These included Travis Scott's #1 album Astroworld and Camila Cabello's #1 debut album Camila. She also helped with the hit song "Havana." Since 2017, Sylvia Rhone has been in charge of Epic Records' operations.

In 2019, Sylvia Rhone was named Chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records. Under her leadership, Epic Records has had amazing success. She has guided many artists to the top of the music charts. These include Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, 21 Savage, Future, DJ Khaled, French Montana, and Meghan Trainor. She is also known for bringing huge hip hop success to the label.

Honors and Awards

Sylvia Rhone has received many awards for her work:

• In 2019, she was ranked #35 on Billboard's Annual Power 100 List.
• She received the City Of Hope's Spirit Of Life Award in October 2019.
• She received the Midem 2019 Hall Of Fame Award in June 2019. She also gave the main speech at their conference.
• She received an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music in April 2019.
• In 2019, she was featured in Variety magazine.
• In 2018, Billboard Magazine called her "Sony Music's Most powerful African-American Woman."
• In 2018, she received the Culture Creators Icon Award. In her speech, she said, "Our one common goal is to protect the culture."
• Sylvia Rhone is also a member of the board of directors for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.