Paul Cooper, who served as a senior executive alongside several record industry legends during his 50 years in the business, has died. Cooper passed on March 26 at age 76. No cause of death was revealed.
Cooper served as a Universal Music Group Vice President, at Atlantic/Warner Records as Senior VP and General Manager, and at A&M Records in its early years.
A Los Angeles native, Cooper attended USC, where he began managing music artists.
Music executive Doug Morris, who worked with Cooper for many years, issued a statement calling him “a dedicated and a loyal friend. Truly, one-of-a-kind, and I am going to miss him.”
Cooper started in public relations, handling such acts as Trini Loper, Monte Kay and Flip Wilson. He then joined Atlantic Records as a national director of publicity in 1978, becoming the right hand-hand to Morris while becoming the senior vp/West Coast general manager.
From there, he joined Warner Music as a senior VP, then moved to MCA Music Entertainment (which became Universal Music Group), again working with Morris. He was known for his work on the company’s annual Grammy party.
Cooper was preceded in death by his longtime partner, music executive Bill Schrank. He is survived by his brother, Lewis Cooper of Palm Springs.
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