Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next

by LA Reid, Joel Selvin Narrated by Dion Graham

Overview

In this long-awaited memoir, illustrated with over 100 never-before-seen photos from his personal collection, the groundbreaking record producer chronicles his struggles, his success, and the celebrated artists that made him a legend.

Over the last twenty-five years, legendary music producer and record man LA Reid-the man behind artists such as Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Mariah Carey, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher-has changed the music business forever. In addition to discovering some of the biggest pop stars on the planet, he has shaped some of the most memorable and unforgettable hits of the last two generations, creating an impressive legacy of talent discovery and hit records.

Now, for the first time, he tells his story, taking fans on an intimate tour of his life, as he chronicles the fascinating journey from his small-town R&B roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his work as a drummer to his fame as a Grammy Award-winning music producer and his gig as a judge on the hit reality show, The X Factor. In Sing to Me, Reid goes behind the scenes of the music industry, charting his rise to fame and sharing stories of the countless artists he's met, nurtured, and molded into stars. With fascinating insight into the early days of artists as diverse as TLC, Usher, Pink, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber, his story offers a detailed look at what life was like for stars at the start of their meteoric rise and how he always seemed to know who would be the next big thing.

What emerges is a captivating portrait from the inside of popular music evolution over the last three decades. Part music memoir, part business story of climbing to the top, this beautifully designed book, jam packed with photos, showcases Reid's trademark passion and ingenuity and introduces a multifaceted genius who continues to shape pop culture today.*

Editorial Reviews

MAY 2016 - AudioFile

Dion Graham narrates L.A. Reid’s memoir, which begins with his experience of falling in love with the drums as a child in Cincinnati. The story traces his path to his current life as a producer and an executive who has had a hand in some of the most popular music of the last few decades, including that of Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Pink. Throughout, Graham conveys the mix of toughness, sensitivity, and love for the work that has characterized Reid’s career. Graham creates voices for the family, friends, and celebrities who populate Reid’s life and drops into more sedate tones for vulnerable moments, as when Reid talks about his grief after a friend’s suicide. An enlightening portrait and an enjoyable look behind the scenes of the music business. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

02/22/2016
Reid, with veteran music journalist Selvin, recounts the highlights of his illustrious life as a supremely successful music producer in this memoir. He includes his early days playing DJ for "grown-up parties;" his time as a drummer for the band the Deele; and eventually forming a profitable record label, LaFace Records, with bandmate Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds. His remarks on performers and the modern music scene are polite and restrained. The inside details about his production methods show why he's so respected among his peers. As his reputation grows, Reid works his magic, leading Arista Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, and Epic Records, and starting the careers of Usher, Toni Braxton, TLC, Outkast, Pink, and Avril Lavigne, among others. Add to those triumphs a stint as a judge of the TV show X Factor. With a keen understanding of today's pop music and its major influence on its listeners around the globe, Reid's optimistic, soulful memoir mirrors the timeline of contemporary music culture with all of its peaks and valleys. (Feb.)

MAY 2016 - AudioFile

Dion Graham narrates L.A. Reid’s memoir, which begins with his experience of falling in love with the drums as a child in Cincinnati. The story traces his path to his current life as a producer and an executive who has had a hand in some of the most popular music of the last few decades, including that of Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Pink. Throughout, Graham conveys the mix of toughness, sensitivity, and love for the work that has characterized Reid’s career. Graham creates voices for the family, friends, and celebrities who populate Reid’s life and drops into more sedate tones for vulnerable moments, as when Reid talks about his grief after a friend’s suicide. An enlightening portrait and an enjoyable look behind the scenes of the music business. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-01-13
"I always know in a few seconds." Music mogul Reid reveals the secrets of the producer's trade. Exhibit A is a young man named Usher Raymond IV, who came into the Atlanta headquarters of LaFace Records at a time when the label was suffering the inevitable growth pains, among them demands from its lead act, the hip-hop group TLC, for more money. Money is, as might be expected, a constant presence and preoccupation in Reid's narrative, but happily, not at the expense of the music. He writes of having grown up in Cincinnati in the shadow of the King Records building, James Brown's label. "Rhythm intoxicated me," he writes, "and eventually it occurred to me that I wanted to play along." He did so as drummer and driving force for the regionally popular combo called The Deele, which crafted hits for itself and other acts—notably Pebbles, whom Reid would marry. None too star-struck with himself, the author writes of learning his way around the music business, motivated in part by the desire to get out of his mother's home: "I had no real prospects in the music business," he notes, "but that didn't occur to me." Instead, he kept at it, realizing, critically, that he had a good brain as well as talent. He worked hard to learn as much as he could about that business and eventually stepped from behind the drum kit to take the lead first as a producer, then as a label owner, and then as an executive for the biggest hit-makers—a job, he notes, that is full of infighting and ugly politics. Throughout, Reid conveys his love of music and his open-minded search for new talent, no matter what the genre, including recent discoveries the Kongos and Meghan Trainor. (Incidentally, Usher passed that audition in a few seconds, and the rest is history.) An entertaining, thoughtful account of the music business, one that would-be machers will want to study closely.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173612144
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/02/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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