Happy Birthday, L.A. Reid!

Today, June 7, marks the 62nd birthday of music mogul Antonio "L.A." Reid!

Though Reid began his career as a songwriter-music producer who penned breakout singles for R&B superstars, it was his now-defunct label, LaFace Records, with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds that solidified his status as a legendary label executive. Launched in 1989, LaFace birthed the careers of acts like Goodie Mob, TLC and OutKast, spawning hip-hop classics such as CrazySexyCool and Aquemini.

In 2000, L.A. Reid became the Chairman and CEO of Arista Records in 2001 after the company bought out LaFace entirely. He then went on to become the head of both Island Def Jam Music Group and Epic Records, leaving the latter in 2017 after nearly six years. Under his watch, Epic scored several No. 1 albums from DJ Khaled, Travis $cott, Future and countless others.

In January 2016, Rick Ross surprised many when he left Def Jam for Epic after 10 years—the move, he claims, was largely in part due to his longstanding relationship with Reid. "When I first came to Def Jam, in '06, all we ever did was win, put up big numbers," the Rich Forever head explained to Billboard. "He always understood my vision and my creative; every time I came in his office, we sat down and discussed different approaches. We always ended up on the same page and we always won big."

Things are continuing to look up for the executive as of late, with reports that his new company, HitCo, took in over $75 million in funding. HitCo reportedly holds both a record label and publishing unit, with Outkast's Big Boi serving as the first signee.

For more information on Reid's upbringing and tenure in the music industry, be sure to check out his 2016 memoir, Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next.

Happy birthday, L.A. Reid, and many more!

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