On Wednesday, December 20, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will host an evening with Jerry Heller, the co-founder of Ruthless Records, a label that became synonymous with West Coast rap. This event, which will take place in the Museum’s 4th Floor Theater at 7:00 p.m., is part of the Museum’s ongoing “From Songwriters to Soundmen: The People Behind the Hits” series.

Heller graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1958 and was inducted into the Shaker Heights Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2003.

According to the Rock Hall's news release about the event, Jerry Heller is a remarkable example of a man who learned the music business and then went on to change it. He is a gambler, a risk taker, and without a doubt in possession of profound natural intuition. He was already a veteran in the business, having worked with everyone from Marvin Gaye and Van Morrison to Elton John and Pink Floyd, when he saw a musical movement beginning to happen in Los Angeles that didn't yet have a name. He got a sense that what he saw could be important and, in response, invested his savings in it. His gut feeling was spot on.  It would eventually be called gangsta rap. With Ruthless Records, co-founded by Heller and Eazy-E, Jerry Heller helped to create a musical revolution that would change the face of popular music culture.

With the publication of Ruthless, his recently released memoir (Simon Spotlight Entertainment), Heller offers a behind-the-scenes view of West Coast rap that is nothing short of stunning. The December guest in the From Songwriters to Soundmen series, Heller will be sharing his inside view of a scene that made a lot of people rich, a lot of people nervous, and a lot of people inspired by what music could do. As Chris Rock has famously said of NWA, one of the Ruthless acts, their Straight Outta Compton release changed the terms for many: “Nothing has ever been the same since [NWA] came . . . It was kind of like the British Invasion for black people.” As we know now, what happened at Ruthless changed popular music not just for a black audience but for all audiences.

The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Museum's 4th Floor Theater.  The event is free with a reservation. Make your reservation by e-mail or call 216.515.8426.

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