John McClain, co-executor of Michael Jackson‘s estate and a longtime music executive, has died at the age of 71.
In a Wednesday (May 27) statement to Billboard, Jackson co-executor John Branca confirmed the Tuesday (May 26) passing of McClain, who had helped lead the King of Pop’s estate since the star’s death in 2009. Branca said he was “profoundly grieved at the loss of my partner and ‘brother.’”
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“He brought a passion and sense of conviction to all that he did and was the most generous of friends,” Branca said. “It is difficult to imagine a world without him.”
McClain was a longtime executive at A&M Records, where he helped launch Janet Jackson’s career and executive produced her breakthrough 1986 album Control. He later did stints at Interscope Records and DreamWorks Records.
When Jackson died in 2009, McClain and Branca, a veteran music attorney, were named in his will as co-executors of his estate. Though the estate was reported to be nearly $500 million in debt at the time of his death and dogged by abuse allegations, it has since become a multi-billion business, including a $600 million deal to sell half his catalog to Sony Music and a smash hit biopic Michael earlier this year.
Branca, who has long played the more public role in running the Jackson estate, said in Wednesday’s statement that McClain had been “one of the great innovators in the world of music and music marketing” and “a visionary, seeing past the mundane and into the future.”
“When we were named in Michael’s will, I knew that he would bring great insight into Michael’s music and that his friendship and dedication to Michael would underscore all the great projects that we could bring to the world,” Branca said. “He brought a passion and sense of conviction to all that he did and was the most generous of friends.”
A cause of death has not been given publicly for McClain. But TMZ, which first reported the news of his passing, reported that he had been “sick for several years” before his death.
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