Music executive Seymour Stein, a New Yorker who was notable for signing many famous acts in the seventies and eighties, including Madonna, the Ramones and the Talking Heads, has passed away at the age of 80.
Stein launched the music label Sire Records in 1966 and eventually went on to become influential as an exec in the mi-70s and onward, signing many notable punk, new wave and pop artists.
A big proponent of UK music, he brought British bands such as Fleetwood Mac, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Madness to the United States where they were introduced to American audiences.
He was also behind the signing of Ice-T, KD Lang and the Pretenders.
Stein”s start in the music industry began when he joined Billboard magazine instead of going to university. He then worked for King Records in the early ’60s, at the time the label was launching the career of James Brown.

Starting Sire, he signed the Ramones in 1975 after being “awed by their demeanour,” he explained in 2008. At a subsequent Ramones concert, he saw the Talking Heads and signed them nearly a year later.
Stein, who claimed to have invented the music term “new wave,” signed Madonna in 1982, remarking that her “her staunch determination” to succeed in the music industry was what convinced him.
“RIP Seymour Stein. Legendary record man. Signed me to Sire Records in 1984 and bought me my Red 355 from 48th Street to seal the deal. Worked with The Drifters, Rolling Stones & Shangri-Las. Discovered Talking Heads, Ramones & Madonna. Well done Seymour & thank you my friend,” former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr said on Twitter.