Gerald Elliot Heller (October 6, 1940 – September 2, 2016) was an American

music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

and businessman. He was best known for his management of

West Coast rap West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the e ...

and

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...

pioneers

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

and

Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records. He is often referred t ...

. He rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s representing

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

, Crosby Stills & Nash,

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, Humble Pie, Styx,

the Grass Roots The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums, two ...

, and

the Standells The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. They are best known ...

, among many others. In the mid-1980s, he worked with R&B and hip hop acts like

Michel'le Michel'le Denise Toussant (born December 5, 1970), also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s. Her highest charting song is the top ten US Hot 100 hit "No More Lies". Between 2013 and 201 ...

World Class Wreckin' Cru World Class Wreckin' Cru was an American electro group, during the 1980s in the Los Angeles area, that contributed to rap's development. Two of its members, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella, attained greater fame as members of N.W.A, which pioneered gangsta ...

, J. J. Fad,

The D.O.C. Tracy Lynn Curry (born June 10, 1968), better known as The D.O.C., is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. In addition to a solo career, he was a member of the Southern hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew and later collaborated with ga ...

Egyptian Lover Gregory James Broussard (born August 31, 1963), better known by his stage name Egyptian Lover, is an American musician, vocalist, producer and DJ, and was a part of the L.A. dance music, electro, and rap scene in the early 1980s. History Th ...

and

LA Dream Team The L.A. Dream Team was a hip hop group based in Los Angeles, California, active 1985-1989, 1993, and 1996. The group was founded by Chris ''"Snake Puppy"'' Wilson and Rudy Pardee in 1985. They are known for being one of the early hip hop acts ...

. Heller was instrumental in the emergence of West Coast rap music when he managed Ruthless Records with Eazy-E and discovered, signed or managed the likes of N.W.A,

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

, Above the Law,

and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

brought The D.O.C. and Above the Law to Ruthless in its early days and Eazy introduced Bone in the later years.

Early life and education

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in Cleveland, Ohio, Heller served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and attended college at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and started working in the agency business in 1963. After working at Coast Artists, Associated Booking, and the Chartwell, he opened the Heller-Fischel Agency in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

which grossed $1.9 million during its first year, $3.7 million the second, $5.8 the third, and over $7 million its fourth year of operation representing rock stars

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

, Humble Pie, and

Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...

as well as writers at the time

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

, and

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

. He later bought out partner Don Fischel who went on to package independent TV productions. Heller believed that a key factor in keeping acts working between or after a hit record was to not be greedy and package his own clients together, but tour them in salable packages with other headline acts that were clients of other agencies.

Career

Starting in the mid-1980s, Heller represented rap musicians as the genre became popular with the record-buying U.S. public. His work with Ruthless Records and with Eazy-E formed the foundation for the successes of

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice-T, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Big L, Silkk the Shocker and Westside Connection. It also distributed hip hop record labels including Death Row R ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

. To date, Ruthless Records has sold in excess of 110 million records, not counting singles. The label included artists and producers such as

, whose careers Heller helped establish, and sold millions of records for Interscope, Priority,

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, MCA, and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. At the time of Eazy-E's death, and Heller's departure from Ruthless, the company was generating revenue in excess of $10 million per month.

Managing the rise of West Coast rap

In the 1980s, Heller began managing acts on the nascent Los Angeles Hip Hop scene, many of whom recorded for the now defunct Macola in Hollywood. He managed both

C.I.A. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, which

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

was a member of, and the

, which included

and DJ Yella. On March 3, 1987, he met Eazy-E, and the two became co-founders of Ruthless. Under the direction of Heller and Eazy, Ruthless had 6 RIAA-certified Platinum releases in three years: ''

Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

'' ( J. J. Fad), ''

Eazy-Duz-It ''Eazy-Duz-It'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Eazy-E. It was released on November 23, 1988, by Ruthless Records and Priority Records. The album charted on two different charts and went 2× Platinum in the United States despite ver ...

'' (Eazy-E), ''

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced b ...

'' (

), ''

No One Can Do It Better ''No One Can Do It Better'' is the debut studio album by The D.O.C., released on August 1, 1989, by Ruthless Records and Atlantic Records. It reached no.1 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for two weeks, while peaking in the Top 20 on the ...

'' (

), ''

''s self-titled debut, and '' Niggaz4Life'' (N.W.A).

After N.W.A

N.W.A broke up in 1991, with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre departing and aiming criticism at Heller and Eazy in

diss tracks A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

. However, Ice Cube's diss tracks only occurred after the remaining members of N.W.A. initiated a feud on the 1990 E.P. ''

100 Miles and Runnin' ''100 Miles and Runnin'' is an EP from the American gangsta rap group N.W.A. Released on August 14, 1990, this EP of five tracks reflects an evolution of N.W.A's sound and centers on the single "100 Miles and Runnin'."Jason Birchmeier"N.W.A: ...

''. Both Ice Cube and Dre accused Heller of breaking up N.W.A with the way he managed the group. Dr. Dre later recalled: "The split came when Jerry Heller got involved. He played the divide and conquer game. Instead of taking care of everybody, he picked Eazy to handle it. And Eazy was like, 'I'm taken care of, so fuck it'." Ice Cube, in his diss track "

No Vaseline "No Vaseline" is a diss track by American rapper Ice Cube from his 1991 album '' Death Certificate''. The song was written and produced by Ice Cube and Sir Jinx. The UK release of ''Death Certificate'' omitted this song, along with the 46-secon ...

", accused Eazy of being too much under Heller's influence and both of them exploiting the rest of the group: "Eazy-E, MC Ren, Dr. Dre, and Yella". Also, "It's a case of divide and conquer, 'cause you let a Jew break up my crew" and "house nigga gotta run and hide, yellin' Compton but you moved to Riverside." Heller married Gayle Steiner, his girlfriend since 1990, in 1996. They divorced in 2014.

Book

Heller's memoir, ''Ruthless: A Memoir'', written with

Gil Reavill Gil Reavill (born 1953) is an American author, journalist and screenwriter whose work has appeared in a variety of media. Early and personal life Reavill was born in Wausau, Wisconsin and educated at University of Wisconsin–Madison and Unive ...

, was published by Simon & Schuster/Simon Spotlight Entertainment in 2006. In the work, Heller addressed many events that he had previously remained silent on. With regard to the FBI letter sent after the NWA song "

Fuck tha Police "Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by American hip hop group N.W.A that appears on the 1988 album ''Straight Outta Compton'' as well as on the ''N.W.A's Greatest Hits'' compilation. The lyrics protest police brutality and racial profiling ...

", Heller wrote that the letter was actually a rogue action by a "single pissed-off bureaucrat with a bully pulpit" named Milt Ahlerich (FBI Assistant Director), who was falsely purporting to represent the FBI as a whole and that the action "earned him a transfer to the Bureau's backwater Hartford office". He also wrote that he removed all sensitive documents from the office of Ruthless Records in case of an FBI raid.Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. pp. 141-143. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. He denied the accusations of financial impropriety.Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. p. 292. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. In particular, he wrote that Ice Cube didn't understand finances, and alluded to rumors of his own financial impropriety on his own record label. However some members of the group have said that their first check was not released until they signed contracts, which they did not have read by outside lawyers or managers. Heller defended himself in his book, stating:

N.W.A.'s song publishing royalties were always hefty because the band sold so many records ... Ruthless took twenty-five cents out of each dollar of publishing royalties. Again, a fairly customary bite. Some labels take 100 percent. The other publishing companies involved (Cube included) also took twenty-five cents. Of the fifty cents left, the lyric writer took twenty-five cents, and the beat writer took twenty-five cents. Dre composed the beats for every song N.W.A. ever put out, so he always got that quarter out of every dollar coming in, less deductions for all his sampling. You wrote a lot of the words, Cube, so some of the time you took a quarter bite out of those dollars. There were quite a few times though, when you had to share with cowriters, such as Dre, Yella, the D.O.C., Eazy, or Ren. So you had to share your quarter ... It's not robbery. It's not a
Jewish conspiracy Belief in an international Jewish conspiracy or world Jewish conspiracy has been described as "the most widespread and durable conspiracy theory of the twentieth century" and "one of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories". Alt ...
to rip off the poor artist. What it is, O'Shea, is mathematics — pure and simple. You received every single penny that was coming to you. If you say you didn't, then you are lying.Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. p. 293. Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Of the song "

", Heller wrote that he didn't believe that Ice Cube was genuinely anti-Semitic and was nothing but "pro-Ice Cube", but had exploited prejudices in the Afro-American community to help his career.Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. p. 137. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. He claimed that the deathbed letter from Eazy-E was a forgery: "Eric would never have put out a letter that was that corny."Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. p. 299. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Heller wrote that Eazy-E had eight children and not seven as the letter stated. Of the

Dee Barnes Denise "Dee" Barnes (stage name Sista D) is an American rapper and former Fox television personality who performed in the West Coast hip hop female duo Body & Soul and hosted a radio show on KDAY, prior to gaining wider fame as the host of Fox ...

incident, in which she was beaten by Dr. Dre in the midst of the feud between Ice Cube and the remaining members of N.W.A, Heller called the incident "disgraceful" and that he was "left to clean up the mess".Jerry Heller, Gil Reavill, 2006. ''Ruthless: A Memoir''. p. 178. Simon Spotlight Entertainment. Heller said that Dr. Dre was generally non-violent and mild-mannered, but had drunk too much on that night. In a 2013 interview, on the Murder Master Music Show, Heller said that Eazy-E had planned on murdering

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. (; born April 19, 1965) is a American former music executive, convicted felon, and the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight is considered a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in ...

, but Heller was able to talk him out of it. Heller said he was in his office when Eazy-E told him, "You know this guy Suge Knight? Well, I'm gonna kill him ... This guy's gonna be a problem, and I'm gonna kill him." Heller said that he told Eazy it didn't make sense to kill Knight and it wouldn't be worth the risk, citing that Ruthless was the most successful startup record company ever, making $10 million a month with only six employees and, as Heller put it, "not even having a

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

in their office." Heller said that, given everything that had transpired afterward, he regrets talking Eazy out of it. "You know something? I should have let him kill him. I would have done the world a favor. He would have done it for sure by himself. He always rolled by himself and he was fearless. I think that he was going to go do it. I took him seriously. He was right and I was wrong."

''Straight Outta Compton'' depiction lawsuit

Heller was portrayed by actor

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

in the 2015 N.W.A biopic film ''

''. In October 2015, Heller filed a lawsuit against several members of N.W.A,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

and others involved in the production of ''Straight Outta Compton''. He has also filed lawsuits against rappers

and

. The lawsuit claims "the film is littered with false statements that harm the reputation of (Heller) and aim to ridicule and lower him in the opinion of the community and to deter third persons from associating or dealing with him." Producers for the film, which included Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, filed a countersuit in February 2016 to have portions of the Heller suit thrown out. In June 2016, U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald dismissed nearly all of Heller's lawsuit, but agreed to allow one key claim to continue. Despite Heller's death in September 2016, his attorney Mickey Shapiro indicated the lawsuit would continue. In September 2018, a California judge dismissed Heller's lawsuit two years after his death.

''Surviving Compton'' depiction

Heller was portrayed by

Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His othe ...

in the 2016 film '' Surviving Compton''. In contrast to the negative portrayal in ''Straight Outta Compton'', Heller is portrayed in the film as defending

against violent treatment from Dr. Dre, which led writer Ben Westhoff to say that Heller "somehow comes off better than anyone else".

Death

Heller was driving on September 2, 2016, when he suffered a heart attack, crashed his car, and later died at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

. He was 75 years old. Heller's lawyer blamed the depiction of him in the film ''

'' as a contributing factor in his death, saying the film placed him under a tremendous amount of stress and “Jerry Heller would be alive today if not for that movie.” He was interred at

Eden Memorial Park Cemetery Eden Memorial Park Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located at 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard, Mission Hills, California, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. It is located north of the S ...

.Jerry Heller Laid to Rest in Los Angeles, N.W.A Did Not Attend Funeral
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heller, Jerry 1940 births 2016 deaths American memoirists American music industry executives American music managers American talent agents Businesspeople from California Jewish American writers Marshall School of Business alumni Ohio University alumni People from Calabasas, California Businesspeople from Cleveland People from Shaker Heights, Ohio United States Army soldiers Writers from Cleveland West Coast hip hop 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American Jews Burials at Eden Memorial Park Cemetery