The Legendary Henry Stone

Henry Stone has long been known around the world as one of the pioneers of the record industry. In his almost six decades in the business he has discovered talents that have sold millions of records and become international stars, and he has formed record companies with hits so big and meaningful that they created new categories in music. After working with vinyl, cassettes, and CD's, Henry Stone is now moving into music's digital era with worldwide digital distribution of his product through some of the most popular download sites on the internet.

Stone was born in the Bronx, New York. He played the trumpet, and after the Army he moved to Los Angeles where, in 1946, he started his career by selling records to jukebox operators from the trunk of his car.

In 1948 he moved to Miami and started to record and distribute the abundance of great Miami Doo-Wop, Blues, Gospel and R&B artists. He wanted to funk up the world, and he started doing just that via his own Chart, Rockin' and Glory labels.

And he dabbled in production. Stone was one of the first to record Ray Charles, James Brown, Wilbert Harrison, Sam & Dave and Hank Ballard's "The Twist". His first million selling hit was The Charms' "Hearts of Stone" in 1955. Other records from that era include Otis Williams and the Charms on Rockin' Records with "Ling, Ting, Tong", "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')" and "Two Hearts"; Nat Kendrick and the Swans (James Brown's Band), on Dade with "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes".

Henry soon launched a dozen more Miami based record labels as Dade, Glades, Marlin and Scott in the 50s. He also founded Tone Distributors which became one of the most successful independent record distribution companies.

Stone's greatest worldwide successes came during the seventies. He was brilliant at discovering and nurturing new talent. With Tone Distributors and a little label called TK Records built into a row of warehouses in Hialeah, Florida, an industrial area west of Miami, far from the major record business centers, he exploded with what became the number one independent record label in the world. 

Stone had let two kids who were working in the warehouse experiment in the recording studio. KC and Rick wrote the number one "Rock Your Baby" which George McCrae sang, and soon, as KC and The Sunshine Band, released a string of number one hits such as "Get Down Tonight" and "That's The Way I Like It" on Henry Stone's TK label. With hits that kept dance floors and film soundtracks hopping all over the world, Henry Stone's TK Records helped create and lead the disco phenomenon.

At the same time that he spearheaded the disco era, Henry Stone and label VP Steve Alaimo, himself a former teen idol and hit recording artist, had created another new category in music idolized around the world - "The Miami Sound." In addition to KC and The Sunshine Band and George McCrae, TK's recording artists included Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman"), Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"), Clarence Reid ("Nobody But You Babe"), Little Beaver ("Party Down"), Peter Brown ("Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me", "Dance With Me"), Bobby Caldwell ("What You Won't Do For Love"), Anita Ward ("Ring My Bell"), Beginning of the End ("Funky Nassau"), Foxy ("Get Off"), T-Connection ("Do What You Wanna Do"), Gwen McCrae ("Rockin Chair") and Latimore with such greats as "Let's Straighten It Out", "Keep the Home Fire Burnin'", "Something 'Bout 'Cha".

Henry Stone is indeed a living legend. He is one of the last independent label executives who was one of the heavyweights with artists from the 40s, 50s, and 60s and label heads like Syd Nathan, George Goldner, the Bihari Brothers, Ewart Abner, the Erteguns, Jerry Wexler, Hy Weiss, and Morris Levy.

For decades, followers of Henry Stone and his music have made pilgrimages to Florida from all corners of the globe to meet the man who has uniquely worked with so many greats, and so many genres, for so many years. In fact, it is with the help of some of his loyal admirers that Stone has been able to find and digitize some of the old and lost rare classic records by artists like Ray Charles, James Brown, Earl Hooker, Steve Alaimo, Nat Kendrick and The Swans, Yvonne Fair, Lightnin' Hopkins, and many more.

On his new label, The Legendary Henry Stone Presents, music lovers everywhere will now be able to listen to many of the rare and cherished classics created by Henry Stone as they are released digitally for all the world to treasure.

In 2004 Henry Stone was awarded the first ever Pioneer Award for the Dance Music Hall of Fame, which was presented in New York City at Spirit Nightclub. Henry also received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award for the Winter Music Conference presented here in Miami. This commemorated their 20th year and they are one of the largest International Music Conferences in the World.