Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) began her music career in 1974 with Buddha Records. Advancing to senior VP of Atlantic Records in 1988, she became the first African-American woman to head a major record company in 1990, when she was appointed president/CEO of Atlantic division Eastwest Records.
The following year, she was promoted to chairman/CEO of the combined Atco/EastWest and subsequently EastWest Records America. During that time she worked with such acts as En Vogue, Gerald Levert and Simply Red.
In 1994, Rhone became chairman/CEO of Elektra Records. She oversaw the consolidation of four labels into the Elektra Entertainment Group, whose roster included rapper Missy Elliott, Metallica, Jet, hip hop’s Fabolous and Yolanda Adams. Rhone exited that post in March 2004 when Elektra was dismantled by its parent company, Warner Music Group.
In 2004, she was appointed president of Universal Music Group’s Motown Records and executive VP of Universal Records. Kedar Massenburg, who had been Motown president/CEO, exited the company that July.
Rhone is also a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
