Music: Who the hell is L.A. Reid?! Lowdown Facts x 20...
Who the hell is L.A. Reid I hear you say?! Before the latest series of X Factor USA hit our screens a few weeks ago, nobody this side of the world really knew who the new intriguing showbiz judge was! Yo peeps here's 20 lowdown facts....
1. 'Antonio Reid' was born on June 7th, 1956 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2. He gained the nickname L.A. as a young musician/drummer when a guitar player in his band called him L.A. because he was wearing a T-shirt that said “L.A.” in reference to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
3. In the mid-seventies he appeared on record with Cincinnati funk rock outfit Pure Essence who released one solitary 45 as well as garnering an appearance on local FM rock radio station WEBN's second annual LP compilation, this time as 'Essence'.
4. In the 1980s he joined R&B band The Deele who were best known for their 1988 hit 'Two Occasions'. It rose up the charts and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
5. After The Deele parted, Reid joined forces in 1989 with Kenneth "babyface" Edmonds and founded LaFace Records - a joint venture with Arista Records.
6. With LaFace they successfully attracted and popularised African-American entertainers who created much of the great Black Pop music of the 1990s and made it easily accessible to both Urban and Top 40 radio at the time.
7. Popular acts from this Atlanta based label include Toni Braxton, TLC and Outkast. The success of these recording artists helped establish the current music industry landscape that Atlanta, Georgia boasts today.
8. L.A. Reid discovered and signed Usher at the tender age of 14!
9. In 2000, Reid and Edmonds sold their remaining 50% of LaFace Records to BMG and the label became an imprint of Arista Records. They made a substantial profit and also around this time L.A. Reid succeeded his mentor, Clive Davis, as President of Arista Records.
10. As President of Arista, Reid brought the company great success by signing artists such as Pink, Ciara and Avril Lavigne whose debut album Let Go sold 6 million copies in North America alone.
11. L.A Reid became the chairman of The Island Def Jam Music Group in 2004 when he was released from his contract with Arista after the BMG and Sony merger.
12. He is renowned for bringing Mariah Carey's career back to life with 'The Emancipation of Mimi' album after two previous album flops.
13. L.A. Reid has also been administrative in the success of more recent pop sensations such as Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and even the high profile signing of Janet Jackson.
14. In 2006 Reid along with Babyface was honoured as a BMI icon at the 6th Annual BMI Urban awards. He has racked up 18 BMI awards in total.
15. Together with Babyface, Reid has produced and/or co-written penning numerous R&B hits, racking up 33 No. 1 singles.
16. 2011 and has brought L.A Reid even more success with Simon Cowell appointing of him as the new X Factor USA judge
17. In July this year he became chairman and CEO of Epic Records.
18. L.A. is currently mentoring the boys category on X Factor USA. His boys include recovering drug addict Chris Rene and 14-year old rapper 'Astro' (Brian Bradley).
19. His obvious embodiment of the music the contestants perform on the X Factor stage shows a lifelong dedication to his musical apprentices (on many occasions Reid has demonstrated some very interesting 'dance' moves from his judges chair!), he recently explained to TV Now magazine that he doesn't notice the camera on him. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm sitting in my office and I'm admiring talent and responding to it. But I don't see the camera. I don't notice the camera and I have no concerns for the camera".
20. On asked by TV Now whether these televised competitions replace the A&R departments of record companies due to artists getting more visibility he said "it is enhancement (but) doesn't replace A&R". "The good news is that between X Factor and other talent competitions and things like YouTube, we now have more resources for talent, and as a record executive, what we are looking for are more opportunities to discover talent".