Ron Perry is a musician and American music executive. Perry serves as the Chairman & CEO of Columbia Records.Sony names new CEO of Columbia Records
Anthony Noto bizjournals.com, January 2, 2018, Retrieved on January 2, 2018 Columbia Records is home to

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

, Beyoncé,

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Bruce Springsteen, The Chainsmokers, Daft Punk,

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

, Billy Joel,

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

, AC/DC, Harry Styles,

Polo G Taurus Tremani Bartlett (born January 6, 1999), known professionally as Polo G, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence with his singles " Finer Things" and " Pop Out" (featuring Lil Tjay). His debut album ''Die a Legend'' (2019) peaked at ...

Pharrell Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

, John Mayer,

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

and many of the world's most iconic artists. At Columbia, Perry has personally signed and overseen the careers of

Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his country rap single " Old Town Road", which first achieved viral popula ...

The Kid LAROI Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard (born 17 August 2003), known professionally as the Kid Laroi (stylised as the Kid LAROI), is an Australian rapper, singer and songwriter. He originally gained recognition from his association and friendship with A ...

BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-pr ...

(vi
Big Hit Entertainment
,

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of the emo rap collective GothBoiClique. Helping pioneer an emo revival-style of ...

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish singer. Born and raised in the outskirts of Barcelona, she has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. ...

, Dominic Fike,

Baby Keem Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer. He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape ''Di ...

among others. He has also championed successful campaigns by Adele, Harry Styles, Polo G, Tyler, the Creator, John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and others. Under the leadership of Ron Perry, Columbia Records spent 33 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021, the most in label history.

Early career

Perry is the former president of SONGS Music Publishing, founded by fellow

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

alum

Matt Pincus Matthew Storrs Pincus is an American music publisher and investor who founded Songs Music Publishing. He was a former bassist of the band Judge. Early life and education Pincus is the son of Lionel Pincus, co-founder and chairman of private ...

. A partner of SONGS since the company's inception in 2004, Perry had signed and overseen the careers of artists and songwriters including

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion ga ...

, Lorde, Diplo,

DJ Mustard Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

Desiigner Sidney Royel Selby III (born May 3, 1997), better known by his stage name Desiigner, is an American rapper and singer. In December 2015, his debut single "Panda" reached number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2019, he was released fr ...

, Q-Tip and many others. His signings and record making skills led SONGS Music Publishing to a publishing market share of 5% and to the position of #1 Independent Co-Publisher, for 12 consecutive quarters according to Billboard. In December 2017, SONGS was sold to Kobalt Music Publishing.

A&R credits

Some of Perry's A&R credits include: The 8x Multi-Platinum "Starboy", and the 5× Platinum "

I Feel It Coming "I Feel It Coming" is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd featuring French electronic duo Daft Punk, from his third studio album, '' Starboy'' (2016). It was written by the trio alongside Doc McKinney, Cirkut and Eric Chedeville, being produc ...

" for

and Daft Punk, a collaboration set up by Perry. He is also credited as A&R on Lorde's second album '' Melodrama'', which debuted at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Top 200 and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong ...

. The 14X Diamond single for Lil Nas X, "Old Town Road (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus)." This became the longest running #1 single of all time on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 19 consecutive weeks. The song earned 2 Grammy Awards for ''Music Video of the Year'' and ''Best Pop Duo/Group Performance'' at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

, and is currently the most certified song in music history. “Falling Down” by Lil Peep and XXXTentacion which Perry put together with producer John Cunningham shortly after the untimely death of

XXXtentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion ga ...

, who Perry had previously signed to SONGS Music Publishing. For

, Perry was instrumental in finding the song “Dynamite” which would become the group's first ever #1 song on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 3 weeks. The song was later nominated for ''Best Pop Vocal'' at the

63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

. Perry also co-produced and co-wrote BTS’ follow-up single, “Butter,” which broke Spotify's all-time single day streaming record with over 20M global streams in its first day. The song also reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks.

Recognition

* 2022 ''Billboard'' Power List: No. 17 * 2021 ''Variety''’s Label of the Year * 2020 ''Variety's'' Hitmakers ''Executive of the Year'' * 2020 ''Billboard's'' inaugural ''Breakthrough Award'' * 2020 ''Billboard's'' Power 100 * 2019 ''Billboard's'' Power 100: No. 34 * 2018 ''Variety’s'' “New Power of New York” list * 2018 ''Billboard’s'' Power 100: No. 28 * 2017 ''Variety's'' 2017 Hitmakers * 2017 ''Billboard’s'' Power 100 * 2016 ''Billboard’s'' inaugural A&R Power Players list * 2014-2016 '' Billboard’s'' 40 Under 40 * 2013 ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

's'' Top 35 Hitmakers in Music list

In popular culture

Perry was depicted as himself in three episodes of ''South Park's'' 18th season (“The Cissy,” "#Rehash,” and “#HappyHolograms”). In one of the episodes Perry gets into a verbal altercation with Cartman, as Cartman refers to Perry as a "40 year old with a Justin Bieber haircut." Perry is known to be an avid Nirvana fan and has played “Smells Like Teen Spirit" on guitar alongside Miley Cyrus, and separately, Nirvana's “Lithium” on stage with Post Malone at Coachella 2016. In 2019, Perry performed guitar alongside John Mayer,

Leon Bridges Todd Michael "Leon" Bridges (born July 13, 1989) is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2015 song " Coming Home", which received regular airplay and was also a Top 10 Most Viral Track on Spotify. Brid ...

, and

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

at his 40th birthday celebration held at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Ron 1979 births American music industry executives Living people