Influential music producer Steve Lillywhite has confirmed he will join US based SonyBMG division Columbia as a Senior VP A&R. In this New York based role Lillywhite will sign breaking talent to the label, as well as working with the major's existing roster of artists, giving the company rather good in house production expertise.
Confirming the appointment, Columbia chairman Will Botwin told CMU: "Steve Lillywhite has worked on a lot of the most important records of the past thirty years and has produced some of the best records of all time. His adventurous musical spirit, his consistently high aesthetic standards, and his broad creative abilities have produced an unbroken string of artistic and commercial successes, from the earliest days of punk-rock to this year's hottest pop albums. He knows what a great record sounds like and he intuitively knows how to work with artists to bring out the very best they have to offer. I feel fortunate that Steve is on-board to help write the next chapter in Columbia Records' rich history."
Lillywhite, who has worked with the likes of Ultravox, Pete Gabriel, Simple Minds, the Rolling Stones, Morrissey, Travis and U2, among many others, said of his new job at the Sony label: "I'm looking to sign the best artists around and believe that Columbia is the place to make the best possible records".