Andre Harrell

Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 7, 2020) was an American record executive, media proprietor, and former rapper. He formed the short lived East Coast hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde with Alonzo Brown in 1980, who signed with Profile Records the following year. After their 1986 disbandment, he founded the record label Uptown Records that same year, which saw commercial success in contemporary R&B, new jack swing, and hip hop music releases into the coming decade. The label entered a distribution deal with MCA Records and signed artists including Jodeci, Heavy D & the Boyz, Mary J. Blige, Guy, and Al B. Sure, as well as then-unknowns the Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy, among others. He is credited with discovering and giving the latter his start in the industry in 1990. Harrell was later appointed as CEO of Motown from 1995 to 1997.

Following years of sustained medical issues, Harrell died of heart failure in May 2020.