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Ensign Records founder Nigel Grainge dies
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 12 June 2017
Veteran music industry exec Nigel Grainge has died, aged 70, as a result of complications from recent surgery.
London-born Grainge – brother of Universal Music CEO Lucian Grainge – began his music industry career at Phonogram in 1970, working his way up the hierarchy to become Head Of A&R, and signing, among others, the Steve Miller Band, 10CC, Eddy Grant and Thin Lizzy.
He later launched his own record company, Ensign, where he signed The Boomtown Rats, Waterboys and Sinead O’Connor. Then – after selling Ensign to Chrysalis – he moved into the world of music publishing, launching Dizzy Heights, which he subsequently sold to Edel.
He relocated to LA in 2002, working as a consultant to various artists, labels and publishers, and more recently on the HBO series ‘Vinyl’.