We end our tributes to our Board by saluting Advisory Board member, Winston Willis, better known as Buzzy, who has been a true innovator and industry pioneer in the music industry.
A Harlem native, he was a member of The Solitaires, a high school doo-wop group that was later inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame.
His career includes Royal Roost/Roulette Records, local promotion for MGM/Verve Records and being the youngest Vice President at RCA Records. He pursued his graduate studies at Pace University in marketing and was soon recruited by Phillips Electronics Corporation, the parent company of Polydor/Polygram Records, to be the Senior Vice-President of all American Operations. Buzzy was instrumental in the acquisition of Mercury and Verve Records by Phillips.
After a string of successes at Phillips, he accepted the position of Executive Vice President/General Manager of CTI Records, the largest jazz record label in the world. Once again, his creativity and business acumen propelled the success of many of today’s superstar artists. In 1996, Buzzy launched One World Entertainment, Ltd. in partnership with The Sanctuary Group (UK), then one of the largest management firms in Europe. After their partnership ended, Buzzy formed The All Access Entertainment Group with his long-time client, Robert “Kool” Bell, with diverse interests ranging from concert production in Nigeria and Angola to agricultural projects in US and Africa.
An active community leader, Buzzy has been recognized for his personal as well as professional contributions. He is one of the legends on whose shoulders we stand and his legacy is cemented in the recently-opened National Museum of African American Music in Nashville.
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