Walter Yetnikoff, who rose to fame as head of CBS Records, has died at the age of 87.
On Monday, The New York Times (via Rolling Stone) reported that Yetnikoff died on Sunday night one day before his supposed 88th birthday.
His wife, Lynda, confirmed that her husband passed away at a hospital in Bridgeport, Connecticut, after losing his battle against cancer.
Yetnikoff reportedly suffered from a recurrence of bladder cancer which he had for years. The type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, starts when cells in a person's urinary bladder start to grow. Larger cancer cells eventually develop a tumor that can spread to other parts of the body.
Before his death, he wrote his memoir "Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an age of Excess" with the help of David Ritz.
The book unveiled how his power conquered the music industry and how he helped A-listers reached their places.
"Like me, like all responsible company chiefs, Clive [Davis, another fabled executive] wanted hits and would do whatever it took to get one," he wrote.
Indeed, Yetnikoff lived up to his responsibility.
Walter Yetnikoff Made Respectable Stint
Throughout his career, he established close relationships with several artists, including Barbra Streisand.
Yetnikoff also collaborated with Cyndi Lauper, who he called her buddy, and Michael Jackson.
The late King of Pop made it to the top after the late CBS Records boss helped him get his videos on MTV. Initially, the channel only catered to rock music. But with the arrival of Jackson's music, it opened its doors to all genres.
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Because of this, Jackson called him "the best president of any record company."
"In short order, 'Billie Jean' was added to MTV in heavy rotation, opening the flood gates for Michael's extraordinary success and also for a whole generation of black artists. Walter forced that to happen, and with that decision, the wall came tumbling down," the late singer went on.
Apart from the aforementioned superstars, Yetnikoff also shared his service to Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and James Taylor.
In 1990, he parted ways with CBS as the company reportedly told him that many artists were no longer happy to work with him. Despite trying again in the music business, his attempts all failed to get him to the spotlight again.
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