EMI Exec Bob Mercer Dies at 65

Legendary music industry figure Bob Mercer who signed the Sex Pistols has died of lung cancer, he was 65. Mercer was employed at EMI as managing director during the 1970s and signed the Pistols as well as Queen, Kate Bush and Marc Bolan.

“He had the most marvelous stories he could tell you,” said Jerry Cohen, chief financial officer of what is now a joint venture between EMI Music, Sony Music and Universal Music Group. “He lived in an apartment EMI owned next to Abbey Road studios in London. He got to be friends with John Lennon, and he’d be apt to hang out with many of the greatest artists in the music industry.”

After leaving EMI in ’80s Mercer, who was born in Preston, England, briefly managed Paul McCartney and Roger Waters before moving to Nashville to help run Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Records. In 1998 he became the chief executive of “Now That’s What I Call Music!” compilation series, which sold 77 million albums in the United States.

Mercer died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and is survived by his wife Margie, his son, Jackson and his brother Mick. [NME] [Los Angeles Times]