R.I.P.: Jerry Moss, the ‘M’ of A&M Records

Jerry Moss (1935-2023)

Jerry Moss, the record executive who was the “M” in the seminal West Coast label A&M Records, has died. He was 88, according to The L-A Times.

His death was announced on Wednesday by his family. “Our, husband, father, grandfather/great grandfather and friend died peacefully ... in his home in Bel Air, CA,” the statement read.

A&M, the label Moss co-founded in 1962 with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert, was home to many of the bestselling acts of the rock era, including the Carpenters, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, the Police, Styx, Peter Frampton and Soundgarden. Such success was the byproduct of A&M being designed as a safe haven for artists, a label that built careers by allowing musicians to take risks.

With Herb Alpert

Moss was central to cultivating that reputation, helping to transform A&M from an easy-listening label to a serious force in album-oriented rock ’n’ roll. Cultivating connections with British record labels and expanding his A&R staff, Moss set A&M on a path that led to such era-defining albums as 1976’s mega-selling double LP “Frampton Comes Alive!”

It wasn’t the only time Moss adapted to fit the times. He helped reshape A&M’s roster in the late 1970s, bringing in new wave acts the Police and Joe Jackson while also finding space for the modern R&B of Janet Jackson.

Alpert and Moss sold A&M to Polygram in 1989 for a reported $500 million. They remained at the label but clashed with Polygram management and left in 1993.

In 1994, they formed a new label, Almo Sounds, releasing albums by Garbage, Ozomatli and Gillian Welch over the course of five years.

Moss and Alpert were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 as nonperformers.