Andre Harrell

Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 8, 2020) was an American record executive, record producer, songwriter and rapper. Harrell was the founder of the record label, Uptown Records. Harrell also served as the president/CEO of Motown Records. He was the first half of the hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde. Harrell is perhaps most known as the man that turned Diddy into a music mogul.

Early life

In 1983, Harrell met Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records. He went to work for Def Jam and within two years became vice-president and general manager. After a few years working at Def Jam, Harrell left and founded his own label called Uptown Records.

In 1988, Harrell was offered a label deal MCA Music Entertainment Group. After he had multiple successful releases, in 1992, MCA offered Harrell a multimedia deal, which involved film and television productions. They developed the feature film Strictly Business and FOX's hit police drama series, New York Undercover, which aired from 1994 until 1998.

In 1995, Harrell was appointed CEO of Motown Records and remained there until 1997. He also hosted Champagne & Bubbles on Sunday nights from 6 to 9pm on Emmis Urban AC WRKS (98.7 Kiss FM)/New York. Harrell was the CEO of Harrell Records, which is distributed through Atlantic Records. He partnered with budding Atlanta-based production company L7 Entertainment for the release of their new artists Hamilton Park and Netta Brielle.

Harrell died on May 8, 2020, at his home in West Hollywood, California. He was 59, and news of his death was first announced on Instagram by D-Nice. According to Wendy Credle, Harrell's ex-wife, he had been suffering from heart problems in the time leading up to his death.