Jerry Moss, the co-founder of the iconic A&M Records has passed away. He was 88 years old. The news was announced on Wednesday (August 16) by his family, according to the Associated Press. Moss died at his home in Bel Air, California.
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“They truly don’t make them like him anymore and we will miss conversations with him about everything under the sun,” the statement said, “the twinkle in his eyes as he approached every moment ready for the next adventure.”
Moss, who was the “M” in A&M (and Herb Alpert was the “A”), founded the company in 1962. The label went on to sign big names like the Carpenters, Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez and more. The label released such albums as Alpert’s Whipped Cream & Other Delights and Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive!
“I never met a nicer, honest, sensitive, smart and talented man than my partner Jerry Moss,” Alpert tells American Songwriter.
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Born in New York City in 1935, Moss was a graduate of Brooklyn College with a major in English. He would then serve in the United States Army. He began his career in music in 1958 as a promoter. Later, he formed Carnival Records in 1962 with Alpert, working out of a garage.
Carnival would soon become A&M. Then some 25 years later in 1987, Alpert and Moss sold the company for a whopping $500 million. For his work, Moss, along with Alpert, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
Outside of music, Moss enjoyed horse racing and was even named to the California Horse Racing Board in 2004.
In 2019, Moss married his second wife Tina Morse. They split their time between homes in California and Hawaii. Just a few years ago in 2020, the couple donated $25 million to The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, which was the largest single donation ever made to the organization.
Moss also earned the Grammy Trustees Award in 1997 and he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999. He is survived by his wife Tina and three children.
(Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for The Music Center)
