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Ron Fair

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Ron Fair
Birth nameRonald Fair
BornLos Angeles, California, United States
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • music executive
  • A&R
  • music arranger
  • conductor
  • audio engineer
Years active1970–present[1]
Labels
Spouse
​
(m. 2001)​

Ronald Fair is an American record producer, record executive, musical arranger, recording engineer and conductor. A traditional record producer since 1970, Fair has been credited with orchestral production work on several commercially successful pop and R&B songs.

Fair has discovered and mentored recording artists including Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Carlton, Keyshia Cole, Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, and the Pussycat Dolls.[2][3] He has also held executive positions including manager of A&R at RCA Records, chairman of Geffen Records, president of A&M Records, and chief creative officer (CCO) of Virgin Records.[4]

Career

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Early career

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Fair was born in Los Angeles, California, United States to a Jewish family.[5][6] Fair's childhood played an important role in his eventual career direction, saying in an interview with HitQuarters, "My grandfather was a broadcaster who had built a remote facility for the purpose of producing a daily radio broadcast. Ever since I was two years old I was around microphones and consoles."[7] During his childhood Fair was actively encouraged to pursue this career path, receiving various music tuition and being encouraged to take on the job training in multi-track recording.[7] By the time he was 17 years old he was, in his words, "Very skilled with microphone technique and able to make a pretty convincing sounding recording."[7] Fair's first job in the music industry was a short stint in the mailroom of Far Out Productions, in September 1979. Far Out Productions was the production company headed by Jerry Goldstein and Steve Gold, and produced albums by, most notably, War and Tanya Tucker.

Fair taught recording production at the University of Sound Arts[8] in Hollywood while at the same time developing a reputation as a motion picture musical soundtrack coordinator, with the multi-platinum successes of Pretty Woman and Reality Bites.[9] In addition, during the early 1980s Fair worked as a recording engineer on such projects as the Slayer album Hell Awaits.[10]

A&R career

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During his career, Fair has produced various hit singles on the pop and R&B charts, including "Lady Marmalade" (Christina, Pink, Mýa, Lil' Kim), "Be Without You" (Mary J. Blige), "One" (Mary J. Blige & U2), "Big Yellow Taxi" (Counting Crows), "A Thousand Miles" (Vanessa Carlton), and "Where Is the Love?" (Black Eyed Peas). He was also the executive producer of "Beautiful" (Christina Aguilera), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (Fergie), "Let's Get It Started" (Black Eyed Peas), among others. He is credited with executive production on recordings that have won several Grammy Awards, including those of Christina Aguilera, The Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige and Queen Latifah.[2][3][11][12][13][14]

In 2009, Fair engineered Lady Gaga's single "Speechless," from her album The Fame Monster.[15] That same year, he also collaborated with Indian film composer A.R. Rahman to produce an English version of "Jai Ho", the hit song from the 2009 film Slumdog Millionaire.[16]

Fair held the position of chairman at Geffen Records until joining Virgin Records.[2] Prior to running Geffen Records, Fair was President of A&M Records for five years, and held senior A&R positions at RCA Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Records, and Island Records-London.[3]

In 2013, Fair was named the chief creative officer and Executive Vice President of Virgin Records. At this position, he was in charge of a major corporate restructure.[17][18] After a year with the label, he left in October 2014.[19]

Fair was a celebrity judge on the Canadian television talent program Cover Me Canada.[20]

In 2015, Fair served as executive producer for TLC's self-titled fifth and final studio album.[21]

Personal life

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Ron Fair married singer-songwriter Stefanie Ridel, a member of the teen girl group Wild Orchid, on September 4, 2001.[22] They have four children together. Fair enjoys gardening and has notably climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.[3]

Discography

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Notable Productions[23]

Filmography

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Film and television

Year Film[23] Role Notes
2004 Star Search: The Next Generation Himself TV series
2005 UK Music Hall of Fame: Biggest Selling Artists of the 21st Century Himself TV documentary
2007 Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll Judge TV series
2007 The Pussycat Dolls: Live from Manchester Evening News Arena Executive Producer Video
2008 Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious Judge and Executive Producer(6 episodes) TV series
2008 E! True Hollywood Story Himself TV series documentary Ep: Pussycat Dolls
2008 Fox Reality Really Awards Himself TV series documentary
2010 American Idol Himself TV series - Episode: "Idol Gives Back/Top Seven Results"
2011 Inside: El DeBarge Executive Producer TV movie
2011 Living in La La Land[2] Judge TV series
2011 Cover Me Canada[2] Judge TV series

References

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  1. ^ Ron Fair Bio NARIP. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Karen Bliss (13 September 2011). "REx-Geffen Chairman Ron Fair on Judging 'Cover Me Canada' TV Show". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d "117th AES CONVENTION BIOGRAPHY OF RON FAIR". Audio Engineering Society. 2004. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Interview with Ron Fair on his Thousand Mile Journey through Pop". 14 May 2021.
  5. ^ Shane Bailey. "Ron Fair". Bmusic.com.au. Archived from the original on 2010-08-04. Retrieved 2010-06-26.
  6. ^ Berrin, Danielle (January 25, 2013). "Music exec Ron Fair talks industry, Israel and his Yiddish Theatre heritage". Jewish Journal.
  7. ^ a b c "Interview With Ron Fair". HitQuarters. 19 Jun 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  8. ^ "Sleaze Roxx". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  9. ^ RON FAIR Archived 2010-08-04 at the Wayback Machine, Doug Minnick, Bmusic.com.au, undated.
  10. ^ Hell Awaits, Chapters.Indigo.ca Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine, (retrieved September 13, 2011)
  11. ^ "ACCLAIMED PRODUCER, MUSICIAN AND LABEL EXECUTIVE RON FAIR PROMOTED TO CHAIRMAN OF GEFFEN RECORDS". Universal Music Group. 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  12. ^ Dale Kawashima. "Special Interview with Jim Vellutato, Vice President of A&R at Sony/ATV Music Publishing". SongWriter Universe. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  13. ^ "Black Eyed Peas, The* – Let's Get It Started". Discogs.com. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  14. ^ "Grammy Awards for Ron Fair". 2023.
  15. ^ Hiatt, Brian (2009-10-21). "Inside The Monster Ball: Lady Gaga Reveals Plans for Ambitious New Tour". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009.
  16. ^ Smith, Ethan (February 27, 2009). "'Slumdog' Remix: The Oscar-winning song 'Jai Ho' is reworked with help from a Pussycat Doll". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  17. ^ Aswad, Jem (24 January 2013). "Ron Fair Named Chief Creative Officer, EVP of Virgin Records". news. hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  18. ^ "RON FAIR NAMED CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER/EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, VIRGIN RECORDS". Universalmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  19. ^ Halperin, Shirley (21 October 2014). "Ron Fair Exits Virgin Records". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  20. ^ Cover Me Canada, cbc.ca, (retrieved November 8, 2011)
  21. ^ "Veteran Producer Ron Fair to Exec-Produce TLC's New Album". Billboard. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  22. ^ "The Most Up to Date Information on Wild Orchard". Wildorchid.8m.com. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  23. ^ a b "Ron Fair". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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