The news of Andre Harrell’s passing came shockingly, however on par with his celebratory life, during a party. D-Nice shared the unexpected news while hosting his Instagram Live series Club Quarantine. A flood of celebrity tributes started pouring in for Harrell and we’re immediately reminded of the many lives he touched as one of the architects of modern hip hop soul. He was 59.
As founder and president of Uptown Records, his tenure produced albums that became classics: Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411? and My Life, Jodeci’s Forever My Lady, Guy’s self-titled debut and The Future, Heavy D & the Boyz’s Big Thyme, and many more.
Even long after Uptown closed its doors, Harrell’s extensive reach continued impacting the industry he helped shape as he went on to produce films, run record labels and continue developing artists, such as Robin Thicke. The New York native counted many singers, celebrities, producers and executives as friends, especially Sean “Diddy” Combs, his former intern turned megastar producer. Harrell routinely spent time with Diddy and many A-Listers and artists throughout the years.
Below, a look back at the people Andre Harrell knew and worked with—and the good times they shared.
Andre Harrell with Martin Lawrence and Al B. Sure (1990)
Andre Harrell and Sean “Diddy” Combs (1995)
Andre Harrell, Heavy D and Sean “Diddy” Combs (2000)
Sean “Diddy” Combs, Carl Thomas and Andre Harrell (2000)
Andre Harrell and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds (2001)
Andre Harrell and Chris Rock (2002)
Misa Hylton, Andre Harrell and Damon Dash (2003)
Jay Z, Naomi Campbell and Andre Harrell (2004)
Andre Harrell, Spike Lee, Fonzworth Bentley and Faune Chambers (2004)
Naomi Campbell, Usher, Andre Harrell and Sean “Diddy” Combs (2004)
Rev Run and Andre Harrell (2005)
Andre Harrell, Kimora Lee, Mariah Carey and Jay Z (2005)
Andre Harrell, Trey Songz, Tyrese Gibson, Sean Combs, guest and F. Gary Gray (2009)
Andre Harrell and Mary J. Blige (2010)
DJ Cassidy, Andre Harrell and Robin Thicke (2012)
Andre Harrell and Dr. Dre (2017)
Snoop Dogg, Clarence Avant and Andre Harrell (2019)
Tank, Andre Harrell, Teddy Riley and Jermaine Dupri (2019)