Bob Mercer, 65, the music industry executive who signed the Sex Pistols while at EMI Music in the 1970s, died of lung cancer May 5 in Los Angeles, said his wife of 31 years, Margie.
While at EMI, Mercer signed Queen, the Sex Pistols, Olivia Newton-John, Kate Bush and Marc Bolan. In 1980, he moved to EMI Films before becoming manager for artists such as Roger Waters.
He moved to Nashville in the early 1990s to help launch and run Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Records. He later became chief executive of the Now That’s What I Call Music! album compilation venture.
Dave Fisher, 69, founding member and lead singer of the 1960s folk group the Highwaymen, whose recording of the Civil War anti-slavery song “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” became a surprise pop hit in 1962, died Friday at his home in Rye, N.Y., of myelofibrosis, a family friend said.
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