Jerry Moss, the ‘M’ of A&M Records, dies at 88

Jerry Moss, the record executive who was the “M” in the seminal West Coast label A&M Records, has died. He was 88.

His death was announced on Wednesday by his family. “Our, husband, father, grandfather/great grandfather and friend died peacefully … in his home in Bel Air, CA,” the statement read.

A&M, the label Moss co-founded in 1962 with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert, was home to many of the bestselling acts of the rock era, including the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, the Police, Styx, Peter Frampton and Soundgarden. Such success was the byproduct of A&M being designed as a safe haven for artists, a label that built careers by allowing musicians to take risks.

Moss was central to cultivating that reputation, helping to transform A&M from an easy-listening label to a serious force in album-oriented rock ’n’ roll. Cultivating connections with British record labels and expanding his A&R staff, Moss set A&M on a path that led to such era-defining albums as 1976’s mega-selling double LP “Frampton Comes Alive!”

It wasn’t the only time Moss adapted to fit the times. He helped reshape A&M’s roster in the late 1970s, bringing in new wave acts the Police and Joe Jackson while also finding space for the modern R&B of Janet Jackson.

Alpert and Moss sold A&M to Polygram in 1989 for a reported $500 million. They remained at the label but clashed with Polygram management and left in 1993.

In 1994, they formed a new label, Almo Sounds, releasing albums by Garbage, Ozomatli and Gillian Welch over the course of five years.

Moss and Alpert were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as nonperformers.

Janet Jackson and Jerry Moss in 1986.

(Lester Cohen / Getty Images)

In 2020, Moss and his wife, Tina, gave $25 million to the Music Center, the largest gift earmarked for programming in the organization’s history.

The Music Center plaza that links the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre was named Jerry Moss Plaza.

“I consider myself a music man, and I would like to celebrate that at this stage of my life,” Moss said at the time.

Moss’ life was celebrated earlier this year at a tribute concert held at the Mark Taper Forum that featured appearances by Alpert, Frampton, Sting, Rita Coolidge and Amy Grant.

At the concert, reported Billboard, tributes flowed freely. Alpert said, “To be honest, I don’t think I would have had the musical career without Jerry Moss,” a sentiment echoed by Frampton: “Thank you, Jerry Moss, for my entire career.” Sting called Moss “an elder brother, a wise head, a man’s man and a mensch.”

This is a developing story.