Darcus beese biography channel

British music industry executive (born 1969)

Darcus BeeseOBE (born 1969) is a British music executive and the former president and chief executive officer of Island Records from his appointment in 2018 till his departure on 3 February 2021.^[1] During his time at the label, he signed several top musicians including Amy Winehouse and Jessie J.^[2] Beese, who has been described by Music Week as "one of the great A&R people of his or any other generation",^[3] subsequently joined Warner Music UK as executive vice-president.^[4]

Background

Darcus Beese grew up in Fulham, London, the son of Barbara Beese and Darcus Howe.^[5] He has said: "The music in my household growing up was definitely a mixture of reggae, soul and calypso.

My father was from Trinidad and my mother was of mixed heritage. So, yeah, my upbringing musically ranged from soca to reggae."^[6] Leaving school early, Beese worked in a hairdress