Jeff Cheen, the music executive who worked with the likes of John Lennon and Pink Floyd, and brought Western pop music to China, died from cancer on Oct. 16. He was 80.
Born in New York in 1945, Cheen began his music career as a teenager, working for his uncle Leonard Chess at Chess Records in Chicago. He swiftly moved to Los Angeles, where he became National Promotion Director for Tetragrammaton Records. There, he represented acts such as John Lennon, Deep Purple, Joan Rivers and Tiny Tim.
He later became head of record production and artist signings at Mercury Records Hollywood before moving to Capitol Records as head of rock artists and repertoire, expanding his clientele to include Pink Floyd, Steve Miller and George Harrison among others. Then, he headed the management division at Far Out Music, overseeing the careers of War, Rick James and other prominent artists.
Cheen developed a reputation for managing live events and, after producing the first Pacific Rim Festival in Los Angeles, he was hired as a consultant for the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Culture and the Australian government’s Ausmusic. He moved to China for 13 years, and his company, InterStar Music, was the first Western music organization to enter a joint venture with China to distribute pop and rock music in Asia.
Throughout his time in China, Cheen introduced American blues, jazz, and reggae to the country, touring with leading acts across Asia. Chinese musicians soon began adopting the Western styles and Cheen produced two Chinese reggae albums, a Chinese jazz album, and a Chinese country album. He also worked with groundbreaking Chinese rock band Tang Dynasty.
Meanwhile, Cheen also lectured on the music industry across Asia and Australia. When he returned to the United States, he became VP of Business Development for BB King’s Blues Clubs. His InterStar Arts Alliance later transitioned to marketing for musicians and relocated to Charlotte, N.C., where he continued teaching the Business of Music at Catawba College.
Cheen founded the Charlotte Music Awards in 2006 and was a founding board member of the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. He was also a member of the Pacific Coast Group, which aims to help musical artists recoup royalties owed to them for their work in Asia.
He is survived by his wife, Chunghong, his two sons from an earlier marriage, Justin and Garrett, and his two grandchildren, Henry and Eva.
The family encourages gifts in Cheen’s honor be made to Autism Speaks.
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