Jeff Blue has dedicated his entire life to discovering and developing unknown talent. His journey is depicted in the best-selling book, “One Step Closer”, which focuses on his decades of achievements beginning with the epic story of Linkin Park. Jeff signed the band after their first show, and stood by the group through forty-four rejections, finding the iconic vocalist Chester Bennington, and overcoming all odds, releasing the biggest selling debut album of the 21st century, Hybrid Theory.

Jeff Blue has had success as a multi-platinum A&R executive, producer, award winning songwriter, musician, music publisher, attorney, journalist, best-selling author, and manager. Blue is releasing a docuseries on the History of A&R, focusing on the development stories of the artists who’ve shaped musical genres throughout the past six decades. In addition to being A&R at five major labels, having four publishing deals, he’s helped sign numerous Grammy Award winning artists.

He began his career as an actor, musician, and fitness instructor working his way through UCLA and interning for Harvey Levin of TMZ, who convinced Blue to go to law school. While at Loyola Law, Blue had a chance meeting where he learned about A&R culminating in his sneaking into a lecture at UCLA. Out of law school and after passing the California Bar, Blue started his own music magazine Crossroads, and began writing for Billboard and other publications focusing on unsigned talent. He landed a job at Zomba Music Publishing in A&R where he signed development artists such as Macy Gray, Korn, Limp Bizkit and more. He started teaching the very same class at UCLA he took only four years prior. In this lecture he discovered a young man who he hired as his intern. Blue signed his intern’s band to a development deal after their very first show. After developing the band, forty-four showcases, and forty-four rejections, Blue replaced the lead singer with Chester Bennington. Bennington was an unknown singer from Phoenix AZ who Blue believed could change the musical world. After dozens more rejections, Blue insisted on signing the band to Warner Bros. Records as part of his A&R employment contract. Warner almost dropped the band, but Blue and the band, which became Linkin Park, fought for their collective vision. The result was the biggest selling debut album of the 21st Century, Hybrid Theory.

His articles have been published in Billboard, HITS, Entertainment Weekly, and he has lectured at Universities and Conferences internationally. In addition to discovering, developing, and signing Grammy Award winners Linkin Park and Macy Gray, he has worked with Limp Bizkit, Korn, Hoobastank, The Last Goodnight, Better Than Ezra, DJ Ashba of Guns N’ Roses, David Rehmann of Grandson, and music supervising, producing and writing on Aaliyah’s Queen of the Damned Soundtrack. He lives in Los Angeles where he received his undergraduate degree from UCLA, and law degree from Loyola Law School.

“Chester Bennington answered the phone on March 20th, 1999, at his home in Phoenix. The guy on the other end of the line, Jeff Blue, vice president of A&R at Zomba music in Los Angeles, came straight to the point: ‘I’m going to give you your big break. I have a great band for you. 44 showcases and 4 years later, he never stopped.'”

 

– Chester Bennington  (Linkin Park)

“Jeff excels in artist development, songwriting and cutting edge production. He has an amazing ability to stay ahead of the curve and continuously take music to new heights. Jeff signed my band Emphatic to Atlantic Records and he also co wrote several songs on our major label debut. My experience working with Jeff was fun, creative and just as every artist wants, we got results”

 

– Justin McCain  (Atlantic Records recording artist, Emphatic)

“Jeff is one of those guys that believes in the under dog and sees the vision no one else can, no matter the genre He gave me my first big break, and I’ve never stopped touring the world. HE never stops fighting for his artists.”

 

– Jeremy Ruzumma  (Fitz and the Tantrums)

“Jeff discovered me backstage at a Kiss concert. He stuck me in my first band and put me on a Platinum Soundtrack.”

 

– Jeff Gutt  (Stone Temple Pilots)

“Jeff is one crazy motherfu%@er, but he definitely knows what he is doing.”

– Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit)

“Jeff is the guy you want by your side. He signed me to my first major on Warner Bros Records and when things got tough he was there all the time… at the label, in the studio, and as a friend… wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t believed in me.”

– DJ Ashba (Guns and Roses, Mötley Crue)

“I had given up on music and lost my first record deal. Jeff somehow found me after I moved back home to Ohio, and convinced me to give music a second chance. He believed in me when no one else would, and is responsible for my deal with Epic, which gave me my number one Grammy Award winning song “I Try””

 

– Macy Gray

“Jeff saw me when I was a drummer in a failing band from Spain. He believed in my talent, pulled me out of the band, and stuck me in three signed bands over the past 10 years. He got me my Visa so I could work in the USA. Now I’m traveling the entire world playing arenas in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Jeff supported my vision and more importantly we became best friends. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

– David Rehmann, Drummer (Grandson, Tyler Rich, Taylor Swift)

Jeff Blue Music offers several services related to music and the business of music including: Consultations, Development, Sync Opportunities, Songwriting, and more. Click below for the full list and get in touch today.

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