Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Rupe founded Specialty Records, whose artists also included John Lee Hooker and Lloyd Price
Highlights
- Art Rupe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
- Rupe founded Specialty Records in 1946 and helped launch careers of Little Richard, Sam Cooke and others.
- Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti was one of rock’n’roll’s first major hits, released in September 1955.
- He was known for how little he paid his artists and engaged in an exploitative practice common among label owners in the early rock era: having performers sign contracts with much of the royalties and publishing rights.
- He sold his label to Fantasy Records in early 1990s, but continued to earn money through oil and gas investments.