2017 Inductee: Randy Lennox

Written by John Stewart

The many artists, record companies, and music industry executives who paid tribute to Randy Lennox earlier this year when he received the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Junos had some trouble defining his skill set.

Bono & U2, Gord Downie, Bob Ezrin, Kiefer Sutherland and other friends couldn’t decide if he should be recognized for:

• his legendary two-decade service at Universal Music’s Canada where he forged critical business and innovative cultural mergers among many other initiatives to double market share
• helping land seven Canadian artists in the top 10 chart the same week on Billboard record charts in late 2015
• raising an estimated $50 million for charities through his many initiatives such as the “Waving Flag” single and campaign for Haiti
• his acumen and resourcefulness in readapting and leading his industry through a precipitous 60 percent drop in revenues because of piracy in the early 2000s
• his legendary tenacity and Guiness-record volumes of daily e-mails on behalf of his clients and his employer
• his unshakeable belief in Canadian musicians and their rights and his unique ability to recognize an artists’s gift and package it perfectly for the wider world to admire.

It was probably a case of “all of the above.”

Before he became head of Bell Media two years ago, Randy had been Music Industry Executive of the Year seven times and Universal Music had been named Label of the Year for 15 consecutive years. His company won 185 Junos during his tenure.

He’s been named one of Canada’s 50 most influential people by Macleans Magazine, is in the Music Hall of Fame, and would likely be on Canada’s Walk of Fame if he wasn’t so busy serving on its board.

A record store clerk at Sam The Record Man before he talked his way into a job – working for free – in the mailroom at MCA Records, Lennox eventually worked his way up to become head of the company – after he’d pulled a few mergers to make it the right size for him.

Randy’s peers, and the artists he represented, identified different aspects of his career but they all agreed on one singular source of that success – his quality of character.

Perhaps Peter Gabriel said it best, “I’ve been signed to many different labels around the world but in Canada, I just wanted to be on the label where Randy was.”

Kiefer Sutherland called Randy “a global face of the Canadian music industry for decades now.”

When he was a kid, Randy was already honing his future musical scouting skills. He’d go into his bedroom each week and compile his own list of what he thought the CHUM chart should look like.

When the list actually came out, he’d work on his future lobbying skills by phoning the station to argue that his list was better than theirs.

His eye for spotting and nurturing talent and his loyalty to his clients are legendary.

His success has many sources. One of them is his willingness to outwork everyone else in the business.

Another is his understanding of his role to push everyone, including himself, out of their comfort zones.

And his appreciation that the music business stands on the shoulders of those it serves.

“The true joy of our business is the sense of discovery and the unconditional belief in an artist, committing to their gift, seeing and feeling their spirit and sharing their journey and always remaining awestruck, never losing sight that you are there to serve their vision,”  he says. “You stand behind them through thick and thin.”

Canadian artists big, medium and small could not have been more expertly served by their champion.