James "Jimmy" Iovine (born March 11, 1953) is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.

Born in Brooklyn, Iovine began his career as a recording engineer in the mid-1970s, working with John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen. He went on to produce albums for U2, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Stevie Nicks, Simple Minds , Dire Straits and Patti Smith. Iovine co-founded Interscope Records in 1990. It went on to become Interscope-Geffen-A&M following Universal's acquisition of PolyGram when Iovine was named co-chairman; in 2001, he became chairman.

He is credited with having given Eminem's demo tape to Dr. Dre who signed him to his Aftermath label. In 2002, Iovine co-produced the hit Eminem movie, 8 Mile and in 2004, he and Paul Rosenberg signed a first-look feature deal with Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for their Interscope/Shady/Aftermath banner. Iovine co-produced the first film under the deal, Get Rich or Die Tryin', starring 50 Cent. In January of 2008, Iovine, Dr. Dre and Monster Cable released "Beats by Dr. Dre" high-performance headphones. In 2003 he was co-executive producer of Enrique Iglesias's album Seven. Iovine is also an executive producer with LeBron James and Maverick Carter of the documentary More Than A Game which will be out in the fall of 2009.

He was formerly married to writer and former model Vicki Iovine, author of The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, and has four children and an extended family living in Staten Island, New York.

[edit] References in popular culture

The Eminem song Jimmy Crack Corn, which also features 50 Cent, is written about Iovine.

In the Family Guy episode "Don't Make Me Over", Jimmy Iovine signs the Griffin family band to Interscope Records.

[edit] References

• May 6th 2006. "Face Value: Daddy cool", The Economist, p.68.

[edit] External links

• Interview with Artists House Music
• Interscope Records
• Biography at www.fleetwoodmac.net