USC alum Lenny Waronker inducted into 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

USC alum and former Thornton Board of Councilors member Lenny Waronker was recently inducted into the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Waronker is best known for his historic tenure as head of Warner Brothers A&R through the ‘70s and president through the ‘80s, where he groundbreakingly prioritized creative integrity over commercial pressure. Having a heavy hand in the careers of icons like Prince, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones, R.E.M. and Elliott Smith, he elevated musical artistry into stardom, helping shape American pop culture into what it is today.

Being hands-off in the production process is something he learned the hard way back when he was one of Warner’s most prolific in-house producers.

“I had an enormous amount of respect for the artists; a lot of time it’s staying the hell out of the way when you’re dealing with the kind of people I was dealing with and being as supportive as you can.”

What made Waronker’s work so special was his understanding of the long game, of never losing sight of his and his company’s values.

“In those days it wasn’t just about the hits; at least in my mind, signing an artist was important because it gave the creative community a sense of what the company stood for. […] If you have a point of view and you have strong beliefs about what you’re doing, who you work with, what the company stands for, and you’re right, the rest sort of takes care of itself.”

To learn more about Waronker’s career, read here.

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Photo courtesy of Billboard.