Born in
Newcastle, He was "fascinated by the world of pop music since the age of nine or 10", and learned to play the guitar, He joined
EMI Records in 1976 as Head of Promotions, becoming the label's General Manager in 1978. He worked for several of EMI's in-house labels, including
Rocket (working on
Elton John's 1976 album
Blue Moves),
Fantasy Records,
Ariola Records, and
EMI International. Among other roles in which Harris has served are as Chair of the
Arts Council's African and Caribbean Music Circuit, Director of Performer Affairs for
PPL (2006–2015), former Chair of the
Music Managers Forum (MMF), as founding Chair of the European Music Managers Alliance, Chair of MusicTank, and as Chair of the Equality and Diversity Taskforce for the Music Industry. He was Senior Fellow of the
University of Westminster school of music, film and fashion, lecturing there from 1993. His trusteeships include the Universal Music Sound Foundation (formerly known as EMI Music Foundation), MIDI Music Company, the
British Music Experience, and English Folk Expo. In 2007, Harris received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Westminster and he was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the music industry. Described by
Billboard magazine as a "tireless advocate for artists and campaigner for equal opportunity", Harris in June 2020 wrote an open letter on equality and racism, in response to
Blackout Tuesday – the collective protest action originally organized within the music industry following the
murder of George Floyd; after discussing the barriers due to prejudice that he himself had faced, Harris stated: "I would like to remind you all that this awareness of racism in the industry should not last for one day, or one week, or one year. This should last forever. I would like to see other young black people in the industry rise to the positions of authority and seniority that their talent merits. We have had many false dawns in terms of equality in the industry, let's make sure that this is not another one." In 2021, Harris was elected
Rector of the University of Dundee. serving in the position until he was succeeded by
Maggie Chapman in August 2025. ==Awards and recognition==