Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola
is anAmericanmusic executive, co-owner ofCasablanca Recordsin a joint venture with theUniversal Music Group. He is the former husband of singerMariah Carey, and is currently married to Mexican singerThalía. He headedSony Music Entertainment, parent of theColumbialabel, for nearly 15 years. He graduated fromAdmiral Farragut Academy.
Apart from his experience in managing music outfits, Mottola is known as amentorand former talent manager. His most famous proteges wereHall & Oates,Carly Simon,John Mellencamp,Diana Ross, andTaylor Daynein the 80s,Mariah Carey(his second wife) in the 1990s,Jessica SimpsonandJennifer Lopezin the early 2000s.Thalía(his third wife and a famous Mexican singer) andTommyhave just celebrated the birth of their first child together, a daughter, named Sabrina Sakae. (per Associated Press dated 10/9/2007)
Mottola was born in theBronx, New York. He attendedIona Preparatory SchoolinNew Rochelle, New York, graduating in 1967. He briefly attendedHofstra UniversityinHempstead, New Yorkbefore dropping out. He initially had aspirations of a music career, and released withCBSRecords, but his singing career was short-lived.
Wishing to stay in the industry, Mottola started Champion Entertainment OrganizationInc.to manage other artists. While working at the Chappell music-publishing company, he became the mentor to Philadelphia-based soul/rock performersDaryl HallandJohn Oates.
His belief in the duo led him to push them relentlessly to do appearances and advertising promotions, including some of the first specialized music videos and one of the first modern "sponsored tours," forBeech-Nut's CareFreeGum, Panasonic, and Pontiac..
Hall & Oates paid tribute to him in their track "Gino (the Manager)" on their self-titled 1975RCArelease, better known as the Silver Album. Mottola also figured -- this time, being mentioned by name -- in "Cherchez La Femme," the 1976 dance hit by another Mottola act,Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. ("Tommy Mottola / Lives on the road...") InJulyof 2002, pop starMichael Jacksonheld a press conference to announce that Mottola was a "racist" responsible for the failure of Jackson's 2001 albumInvincible, which had poor sales compared to previous albums. Jackson also famously called Mottola "very, very, very devilish."
The Entertainment Man
Mottola served as Chairman andCEOSony MusicEntertainment. During his tenure, he transformed Sony into one of the most successful global music companies, expanding its businesses into over 60 countries, while creating one of the strongest management teams in the industry. He revitalized Sony Music's publishing division by making such acquisitions as the Beatles catalogue and enabled Sony to become the first major music company to make available commercial digital downloads. He is widely well-known for signing, developing, and nurturing the careers ofMariah Carey,Celine Dion,Lindsay Lohan、Destiny's Child/Beyoncé,Jennifer Lopez,Shakira,Gloria Estefan,Dixie Chicks,Marc Anthony,Barbra Streisand,Bruce Springsteen,Billy Joel, among others.
Since leaving his post as chief of Sony Music, Mottola has been building a new entertainment company, complete with recorded music, television production, theater, and fashion, alongside abrandingand management company launching and re-launching the various careers of such artists asUsherwhose “Confessions” release has sold over 20 million copies to date worldwide, Grammy winner and Latin pop star Marc Anthony, and teen sensation Lindsay Lohan. Later singings included Cassie Ventura in 2006 and Mika, who in 2007 had a #1 single in the UK.
A collaboration with formerMiramaxchiefHarvey Weinsteinhas them teamed on two current projects for live theater, namely producers of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Mottola's TV production arm is currently producing and developing many shows for cable and network television.
Known also for his many philanthropic activities, Mottola has served on the Board of Directors of theNationalCenter forMissingand Exploited Children, the Police Athletic League, T.J. Martell Foundation forCancer, Leukemia and AIDS Research,the RockandRollHall ofFame Foundation and Museum, and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.
CBS/Sony years
Mottola left the agency in 1988, when he was picked to run CBS Records at the age of 37.
Soon afterward,Sony Corporationclosed on its deal to buy the CBS Records group unit fromCBS, naming him President and CEO of the music division, where he succeeded his former mentorWalter Yetnikoff, who had originally brought Mottola into CBS.
In 1989,Brenda K. Starr, a Columbia artist, handed Mottola a demo tape from one of her backup singers. Initially he tossed it aside, but later decided to listen to it. So awestruck was he by her polished coloratura soprano, he tracked down the singer, a then-unknownMariah Carey, immediately signing her and starting one of the most expensive promotion campaigns ever for a new artist. Mottola is seen as the main architect for Mariah's phenomenal success in the early years of her career.
InJune1993, Mottola married Carey in a lavish ceremony, but the marriage was short-lived with the couple separating in May 1997 and divorcing in early 1998. In 2000, Carey, at the time Columbia's biggest selling artist, signed an $80 millioncontractwithVirgin records. On Carey's 2008 release, E=MC2, she included the song "Side Effects" that outlines the challenges she found within her marriage to Mottola, including references of living in a 'private hell' and of 'violent times'.
Mottola later went on to date other stars before dating Latin singerThalía, whom he married in December 2000. He is credited with creating the Latin Explosion in popular music by championing such Sony artists as Marc Anthony,Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, andYouTubecelebrityMia Rose. Additionally Mottola was the architect for some of Sony's biggest global brands, including Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. During his 15 year tenure, Mottola built Sony up from a company with revenues of 800 million dollars a year to one with over 6 billion dollars of annual revenue by the year 2000.
After Sony
Tommy Mottola was the head ofSony Music Entertainmentuntil January 2003. Mottola bought out the rights toCasablanca Records(a then-diminished imprint ofPolygram), and resurrected it, signing actressLindsay Lohan, and singerMika.
Personal life
Mottola is a convert to Judaism.
References
http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1455976/20020708/jackson_michael.jhtml
Notes
^ "Sony Chairman Tommy MottolaStepsDown."mtv.com