EXCLUSIVE: L.A. Reid Reveals How He Missed Out on Lady Gaga's Meteoric Rise
Legendary record executive L.A. Reid opened up to ET about one of his biggest career blunders, missing out on Lady Gaga's success.
"It was difficult seeing Lady Gaga become Lady Gaga," Reid told ET.
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According to Reid, after seeing Gaga perform for the first time, he told her she would change music and signed her to his label. However, things went south when Reid listened to her demo tape. He says hearing the tape made him fall out of love with her as an artist and the label dropped her.
"Before you knew it, it was Gaga's world!" Reid recalled.
But before you start to feel too bad for L.A. Reid, don’t forget that he's discovered his fair share of pop icons. He signed a 14-year-old Justin Bieber to his former Island Def Jam record label, orchestrated Mariah Carey's comeback and launched the careers of Rihanna, Usher and Pink.
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In his new book, Sing to Me: My Story Of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next, Reid also discusses his role in Whitney Houston's infamous 2002 interview with Diane Sawyer.
The sitdown created the "crack is whack" soundbite that would be played for years to come, which Reid regrets.
"I felt that I had failed Whitney, honestly, because it was something that I helped to arrange," he said. "Once I watched her do the interview, I felt like that wasn't quite the right thing to do. I didn't feel like I protected her."
Sing to Me is available now.