Mo Ostin, who headed Warner Bros. and Reprise Records for three decades from the 1960s to the ’90s, has died, Variety reports. He died of natural causes at the age of 95.
Ostin helmed Warner/Reprise for three decades; he was originally hired in 1960 by Reprise founder Frank Sinatra. He established himself as an industry force after the label was bought out by Warner Bros., signing the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix in the ’60s, and forming the distributor WEA. At its peak it was among the biggest labels in the industry—Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours sold more than 20 million copies and spent 31 weeks at No. 1. He was named chairman/CEO in 1972, a position he held until 1994. During his tenure the label released records by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, the Grateful Dead, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, and many others.
In 1995, he joined Dreamworks, the entertainment company founded by label executive David Geffen, film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. He returned to Warner Bros. as a consultant in 2006.
Ostin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
