James “Jimmy” Iovine is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records and Beats Electronics.
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Iovine was born on March 11, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, to an Italian working-class family.
His father Vincent “Jimmy” Iovine Sr. worked on the docks as a longshoreman. His father was very fond of Christmas and in the aftermath of his passing, Jimmy was inspired to record A Very Special Christmas in 1985.
Jimmy rose to prominence through his work on Patti Smith’s 1978 album Easter, which included her Top 40 hit “Because the Night.”
On Damn the Torpedoes, he collaborated with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and on Rattle and Hum, he collaborated with U2. Iovine also produced Stevie Nicks’ first solo album, Bella Donna, Dire Straits’ Making Movies, and The Pretenders’ Get Close.
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Iovine co-founded Interscope Records in 1990, which later became Interscope Geffen A&M after a merger in 1999.
In 1991, Iovine signed Tupac Shakur to the Interscope label as one of the first hip-hop acts.
In the 1990s, Iovine was also in charge of providing distribution, initial funding, and financial oversight for the highly successful Death Row Records hip-hop label.
Death Row operated as a subsidiary of his company Interscope, and was largely responsible for Interscope’s initial platinum selling chart successes throughout the 1990s, which later launched the company into greater success in the 2000s with platinum artists like Eminem and 50 Cent.
Iovine collaborated with Dr. Dre to co-found Beats By Dr. Dre, a headphones brand, in 2008. In January 2013, Iovine announced the expansion of the Beats brand into the online digital music world with Daisy, a new service slated to launch in late 2013.
On May 28, 2014, Iovine and Dr. Dre sold Beats Electronics to Apple Inc. for $3 billion.
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