Background
Ostin, Mo was born on March 27, 1927 in New York City.
Ostin, Mo was born on March 27, 1927 in New York City.
Bachelor in Economics with honors, University of California at Los Angeles, 1950; postgraduate, University of California at Los Angeles, until 1954.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 by Paul Simon, Neil Young, and Lorne Michaels. He is known among his colleagues as the most artist-friendly executive in the music business. Born to a Jewish family, Ostin was hired as president of Reprise by Frank Sinatra from Verve where he had been the Administrative Executive and Controller.
At Reprise he was involved with such artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Junior., and the Kinks.
In 1967, after a trip to the Monterey People’s Festival, he signed Jimi Hendrix. Eventually he became the president of Reprise"s parent company, Warner Brothers
Records, where he signed numerous acts, including The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, the Fugs, Paul Simon, Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Prince and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Ostin"s work made Warners the biggest record company in the world and a model for the artist-friendly late 20th-century record company, creating an image of Warner Brothers as a haven for top musicians.
The Warner creative execs included Joe Smith, Lenny Waronker, Stan Cornyn, Ted Templeman and David Berman.
In late 1994, when Ostin"s contract came up for renewal, he came into conflict with then Warner Music Group chairman Robert J. Morgado, whose controversial tenure led to the departure of several key Warner group executives. After over two decades heading WBR, Ostin decided not to renew his contract and he officially left the Warner Music Group in December 1994. He returned to music in 1996 to lead DreamWorks Records for David Geffen.
Under his 8-year tenure the label had successes with Nelly Furtado, Papa Roach, and All-American Rejects.
The label was sold in 2004 and Ostin retired, although he has since returned to Warner Brothers Records as Chairman Emeritus.
In May 2011, Ostin donated $10 million to his alma mater University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned an economics degree, for a state-of-the-art campus music facility known as the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. He presently sits on the University of California, Los Angeles Board of Visitors for the University of California, Los Angeles School of Arts, and the University of Southern California Board of Advisors for the Thornton School of Music.
In March, 2015, Ostin donated $10 million to University of California, Los Angeles for a new Basketball training facility, which will be called the Mo Ostin Basketball Center.
Ostin was the inspiration for Little Feat"s song “A Apolitical Blues” and its lyric "The telephone was ringing, and they told me it was Chairman Mao" was a veiled reference to chairman Missouri Ostin is also rumoured to be the inspiration behind Neil Young"s song "Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze".
Married Evelyn Ostin, 1940. 1 child, Michael.