Living Legends Foundation has spent 35 years passing the baton in Black music

David Linton was sitting in an Atlanta music conference in 1984 when he heard a message that would shape the rest of his career.

Linton, then a radio program director, was attending Jack the Rapper’s Family Affair, an annual gathering of Black artists, record executives and radio programmers.

Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke about the influence Black music professionals wielded — and the responsibility that came with it.

“He told us we had a responsibility to our people and culture because music is such a powerful tool and we’re pouring into the subconscious of America,” Linton said. “And that stuck with me.”

More than four decades later, Linton sees that responsibility at the heart of his work as chairman of the Living Legends Foundation, an organization dedicated to honoring and supporting the people who helped build Black music.

On Friday, the foundation will celebrate its 35th anniversary with an awards gala at Flourish Atlanta by Legendary Events, recognizing musicians and industry executives while raising support for music professionals who have fallen on hard times.

“We want to honor people whose shoulders we stand on and create a safety net for them,” said Linton, who has chaired the foundation since 2013. “Their contributions to this industry should not be forgotten. You don’t get to retire from this business, get the gold watch at 20 years and 401(k). We understood the sacrifices they made for a career in this business.”

Giving Black music’s architects their flowers

The foundation’s second awards gala in Atlanta will honor figures from across Black music, including Chaka Khan, Greg Street, Ralph McDaniels and Ted Lucas.

Amazon Music’s global head of music industry and culture collaborations Phylicia Fant, who’s from Marietta, is being presented with the Mike Bernardo Female Executive Award named in honor of the former vice president of Uptown Records.

She hopes the honor inspires women executives to pursue entertainment careers.

“It’s an opportunity to live in the present and leave a legacy that someone else can flourish behind,” Fant said. “Sometimes, you can’t see the seeds that you’re planting, but you know one day some up-and-coming executive will hear about you and have an idea of what it takes to continue to show up even when someone tells you not to.”

Black Promoters Collective, a group of Black independent concert promoters and executives behind successful arena tours for New Edition, Maxwell, Brandy and Monica, is receiving the Chairman’s Award.

BPC CEO Gary Guidry said the company has continued drawing strong audiences at a time when other tours and festivals have struggled with cancellations.

“The big box companies were starting to monopolize the culture and put it in the hands of those who don’t live, breathe or look like it,” Guidry said. “We opened the door for those artists to say there’s an alternative to partnering with someone who truly understands where they’re trying to go.”

BPC Chief Marketing Officer Troy Brown calls their efforts communal.

“We’re building an entire Black economic ecosystem. Our production, trucking, catering, sound and lighting companies are all Black businesses, and we’re creating opportunities for those coming next through internships and shadowing,” he said.

BET President Louis Carr is receiving the Ray Harris Lifetime Achievement Award named after the founder of Living Legends Foundation.

Carr, who previously led the network’s media sales department, said he encouraged advertisers to recognize Black audiences as trendsetters.

“I knew Black people were early adapters (who were) always on the cutting edge of what’s next, influential and engaging across all platforms,” Carr said. “People say I sell time and sponsorships, but I educate people on the value of Black consumers. What we do today we know the world does tomorrow,”

Q Parker, a member of R&B quartet 112 and the gala’s honorary chair, said the event gives him a chance to express appreciation to Black executives instrumental in his success.

“I can just imagine seeing people who worked a lot of my records at radio being loved on,” Parker said. “It allows me to help celebrate the people behind the music, be in the room with people who deserve their flowers and encourage the community to show up for those who have poured so much into Black music and the culture.”

Paying it forward

Across a career that included executive roles at Warner Bros., Reprise, PolyGram, Island Def Jam, Arista and Capitol, Linton said he tried to make sure artists understood the business behind their music.

“What we tried to do is educate the artists on the business of the industry and not just promote their music so they would not find themselves without the resources to take care of themselves,” Linton said. “You have a short window to make a lifetime of music or money, and you have to manage it.”

For Linton, that sense of responsibility became harder to maintain as the music industry changed.

“When titles were changed from being Black to urban executives, then urban allowed anybody to be in control of the music, and those people didn’t have the same sense of responsibilities to community because they were concerned about the profits,” he said.

Linton also said Black executives understood that individual success wasn’t enough.

“I never isolated myself. I got to know people who didn’t look like me, went to shows that people didn’t think I’d be at,” Linton said. “People got to know me, understood my integrity, character and intellect,” he said.

In 2018, Linton joined WCLK as program director. It gives him the chance to provide mentorship.

“It gives me an opportunity to give back and continuing to properly prepare students for careers in this industry,” he said.

The Living Legends Foundation is also looking toward the next generation, recruiting younger executives and awarding need-based scholarships to aspiring music professionals.

“Black executives supported each other. We didn’t look at it as competition 24/7,” he said. “We were running a race as marathon runners, and when the baton was in our hands, we ran in our lane but made sure we passed the baton on to the next person.”

35th Annual Living Legends Foundation Awards Show and Dinner. 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Tickets are $350. Flourish Atlanta by Legendary Events, 3143 Maple Drive NE, Atlanta. livinglegendsfoundation.com