*We’ve got more info on the death of music and entertainment mogul Andre Harrell who passed away on Friday at the age of 59.
Earlier when we first reported the story, we heard that he had a heart attack and died, but it still hasn’t been officially confirmed. Now, however, via HipHollywood.com, we’ve learned that Harrell’s ex-wife, Wendy Credle, said that the cause was heart failure and that he been dealing with heart issues for some time.
Quoting a well-placed source, the site says Harrell was on a phone call yesterday, when “the call just dropped.”
“The person didn’t think anything of it,” added the source. After that, attempts to reach Harrell all day by phone were unsuccessful. “His cousin went by this morning and used a spare key and found him dead.”
Again, other than his wife saying it was heart failure, we still don’t have an official cause of death, but Hip Hollywood’s source added that they also believe Harrel’s heart issues played a part in his passing.
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Here’s what we reported earlier …
*Sadly, we have to report the passing of Andre Harrell, founder of influential R&B and hip-hop label Uptown Records.
As of this posting, the official details surrounding his death are not yet known. However, his passing was first announced by DJ D-Nice on his Instagram Live early Saturday morning (05-09). Subsequently, the news was confirmed through separate sources by Billboard. He was 59.
Harrell’s career in the music industry started out as being one-half of the early-’80s hip-hop duo Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with Alonzo Brown). They really didn’t much on the charts, but Harrell’s whole situation chan he’d when he met Def Jam founder Russell Simmons, who hired him. Obviously, being a future sho caller like Simmons was his calling. At Def Jam he quickly assumed the title of VP and general manager of the label.
It didn’t take long before he decided to strike out on his own and formed Uptown Records based in New York City, of course. The label didn’t mess around. It quickly made a name for itself with early ’80s hip-hop and R&B hits from rap group Heavy D & The Boyz, R&B singer Al B. Sure! and New Jack Swing outfit Guy which helped bring super-producer Teddy Riley to stardom.
Get the rest of this EURweb story on Andre Harrell’s death, HERE.
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