Beginnings L.A. Reid began his music career as a drummer, with his first appearance on record being with the Cincinnati funk rock outfit
Pure Essence. Pure Essence released one solitary
45 in the mid-
1970s. They later appeared on local FM rock radio station WEBN's second annual LP compilation, but the group was renamed 'Essence'. Reid would experience more mainstream success when he became a member of the 1980s R&B band
The Deele, best known for their 1988 hit "
Two Occasions", a song on their third album
Eyes of a Stranger. The band had broken up before the success of the single, then reunited to promote "Two Occasions" as it rose up the charts under
Dick Griffey's
Solar Records. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1989–2004: LaFace Records and Arista years After The Deele disbanded, Reid and bandmate
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds founded
LaFace in 1989 through a joint venture with
Arista Records, with funding from Arista Records creator
Clive Davis. The label soon became one of the premier destinations for popular African-American entertainers who created Black Pop music that was easily accessible to both Urban and Top 40 radio formats. Reid signed 14-year-old
Usher to the label, whose six album releases have sold 65 million units worldwide. Other popular acts on the label during its peak include
Toni Braxton,
TLC, and
Outkast. Both
TLC and
Toni Braxton went on to sell more than 65 million records each. Initially headquartered in Atlanta, the label played a significant role in developing the city's music industry. While starting up Hitco, Reid, looking to connect to a new market of producers, songwriters and talent, hired
Shakir Stewart whom he saw as someone with "a finger on the pulse of the next generation of hot producers in the Atlanta music scene". Shakir's first job in the music industry was as a creative executive at Hitco; he went on to become a senior vice president at Island Def Jam Music Group. In 2000,
LaFace was merged into
Arista Records with Reid being promoted to president and CEO of
Arista Records. In 1997, Reid attended the
Harvard Business School six-week Advanced Management Program, in preparation to become CEO of
Arista Records. In 2000, Reid signed his first unknown artists, Latin rapper
Havana Mena and pop/rocker
Avril Lavigne, to
Arista. Avril Lavigne's debut album
Let Go sold 6 million copies in the United States. As president of Arista Records, Reid signed artists such as
Pink (whose November 2001 album
Missundaztood sold 5 million copies in the US) and
Ciara (whose September 2004 debut album
Goodies sold 2.5 million copies in the US). Under Reid's tenure at Arista, Usher (whom Reid originally signed at LaFace) completed production on his multi-platinum hit 2004 album
Confessions, which went on to spawn four No. 1 hit singles and sell 10 million copies in the United States alone. Outkast's
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold more than 10 million copies and won a Grammy Award for Album of the year.
2004–2012: Island Def Jam Music Group and The X Factor Following the merger of
Sony and
BMG, L.A. Reid was released from his contract at Arista in 2004 and became the chairman and CEO of
The Island Def Jam Music Group in February 2004. Reid is noted for bringing
Mariah Carey's career back to prominence with her multi-platinum 2005 album
The Emancipation of Mimi after her career had stalled from 2001 to 2003 with less than stellar sales and general lack of public interest for her two previous projects,
Glitter and
Charmbracelet. Reid also played a role in the successes of artists such as
Kanye West,
Rihanna,
Bon Jovi, and
Justin Bieber and was credited for the musical comeback of
Jennifer Lopez with her 2011 album
Love?. Reid stepped down as Chairman/CEO of Island Def Jam in March 2011. In early 2011, Reid became a judge on
The X Factor USA for the
first season, alongside creator and former
American Idol judge
Simon Cowell, pop star and dancer
Paula Abdul and former
Pussycat Dolls singer
Nicole Scherzinger, who replaced British recording artist
Cheryl Cole. In 2012, Reid returned for the
second season of
The X Factor USA' along with
Simon Cowell, while
Nicole Scherzinger and
Paula Abdul were axed from the panel, along with Season 1 host
Steve Jones. Joining the judging panel were new judges
Demi Lovato and
Britney Spears, while
Khloé Kardashian and
Mario Lopez replaced Jones as co-hosts. Reid's category in the "Over 25s" included
Tate Stevens, the winner of the season. Reid announced in December 2012 that he would not return for the
third season in 2013 and was replaced by former judge of
The X Factor UK,
Kelly Rowland.
2013–2017: Memoir, Xscape album, Epic Records One of the projects that Reid embarked on following his judging career on
The X Factor, was remaking Michael Jackson songs after his death with the album
Xscape, released May 2014. Reid went through 40 years of tracks catalogued by the Jackson estate, and eight tracks of Jackson vocals set to new music from
Timbaland and
J-Roc,
Rodney Jerkins,
Stargate and John McClain, the former A&M Records executive who is co-executor of the Jackson estate with John Branca. The originals they worked with were recorded by Michael Jackson from 1983 to 1999, the period just after
Thriller and before
Invincible. In 2016, Reid published the memoir ''Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next''. Under Reid, Epic had four albums debut at No. 1:
Future,
DJ Khaled,
Travis Scott, and the final album from
A Tribe Called Quest. On March 3, 2017 Future became the only artist on the
Billboard charts to release back-to-back albums that debuted at number 1. While at Epic, Reid established the label as a hub for hip-hop acts such as Future, Travis Scott, DJ Khaled, and had significant success with pop artists including Meghan Trainor and Fifth Harmony. During his tenure, Epic grew its market share to 3.63 percent, up from 2.56 percent when he took over in 2011. Reid is the co-author (with
Joel Selvin) of
The New York Times bestseller ''Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next''. In May 2017, it was announced that Reid would exit his post at Epic Records following an accusation of unlawful behavior by a female co-worker. In response Reid stated: "I'm proud of my track record promoting, supporting and uplifting women at every company I've ever run. That notwithstanding, if I have ever said anything capable of being misinterpreted, I apologize unreservedly."
2018–2022: Hitco Entertainment In 2018, Reid became founder and co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment, LLC with Charles Goldstuck, the former chairman and CEO of
TouchTunes Interactive Networks. Formed in January 2018, the company has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta and has signed over 15 artists including platinum-selling acts
Big Boi (of Outkast) and
Dinah Jane of
Fifth Harmony; the first release is a new album from Big Boi of Outkast. In April 2018,
Empire Distribution, the San Francisco-based independent music company founded by
Ghazi Shami, announced that it will provide distribution services to Hitco for their first new album release for Big Boi. In August 2018, Hitco held The Hit List showcase in New York City with performances by Hitco artists including
Yella Beezy. Hitco's hit, Yella Beezy's "That's on Me", reached No. 1 at Urban Radio and Top 20 at Rhythm in September & has since went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide. Songwriter Delacey, who has written for the likes of Halsey and Zara Larsson, joined the Hitco roster as a solo artist releasing "My Man," in March 2019. Also in March,
Jennifer Lopez premiered the single "
Medicine" featuring
French Montana, her first release with Reid's Hitco Entertainment label. In 2022, the assets of Hitco and its artist recording contracts were sold to
Concord Music Group and Hitco ceased operations. ==Discography==