Alvin "Skip" Miller (1946 - September 4, 2009) was an American recording industry executive. He worked for 17 years at

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

(1971–1988) and served as the label's last president before the company was sold to MCA. While at Motown, he was credited with developing

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

DeBarge DeBarge was an American musical recording group composed of several members of the DeBarge family. In addition to various solo projects completed by members of the family, DeBarge was active between 1979 and 1989. The group originally consisted ...

and the

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

. After the sale of Motown, Miller worked for a decade at

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, where he was credited with rejuvenating the label's black music division and helping to develop the

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

genre. He later worked as the manager of

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

's solo career.

Biography

Early years

Born in New York City, Miller was the son of a fireman. He graduated from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

with a degree in chemistry. Miller joined the

U.S. 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, cl ...

in 1968 and served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Motown

Miller began his career in the recording industry as a stock clerk for Motown in 1971. He was promoted through the ranks at Motown to positions in sales, marketing and artist relations. He received the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

's Music Executive of the Year award in 1980 and became the president of Motown Records in 1987. He remained president of Motown until the company was sold to MCA in 1988. In his 17 years at Motown, Miller has been credited with being a key to the success of numerous artists, including

and the

. He also worked with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

RCA Records

After the sale of Motown, Miller worked for a decade at RCA Records. He was the senior vice president of black, jazz and progressive music at RCA, where he was credited with rejuvenating the label’s black music division. He discovered and developed

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

Me Phi Me Me Phi Me (born La-Ron K. Wilburn, December 8, 1970) is an United States, American rapper from Flint, Michigan. Me Phi Me is both the name of the musical group and the name of its lead performer. Wilburn was the youngest of five brothers and o ...

and

Stacy Earl Stacy Earl (born March 11, 1963) is an American dance/pop singer. She is best known for her singles "Love Me All Up" and "Romeo & Juliet" (a duet with The Wild Pair), both of which hit the Top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1992. Debut ...

. He also helped develop to the rap genre, working with

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and disc jockey Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasion ...

(

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of one ...

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

and

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

Lion Tracks and Panda Entertainment Group

In 1998, Miller he took over Lion Tracks, where he was the manager of

's solo career. In 2004, he established Panda Entertainment Group, a talent management company where he worked with Richie,

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

, Lina, Nathan Stone and Megan Peeler.

Death

In September 2009, Miller died of a heart attack while being treated for an intestinal infection at

Cedars Sinai Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

in Los Angeles. After Miller's death, Smokey Robinson called Miller "an integral part of . . . our Motown family. He was my brother, and I loved him very much. What a loss."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Skip 1946 births American music industry executives Motown 2009 deaths