A former Atlantic Records music executive who helped
transform the Blues Brothers from a Saturday Night Live skit into
Grammy Award-nominated recording artists has died in New York City.
Michael
Klenfner (KLEHF'-ner) was 62.
Daughter
Kate Klenfner says he died Tuesday from complications of congestive
heart failure. She describes him as “the famous man in the
music business no one had ever heard of.”
In
the 1970s, Klenfner helped comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi
take their SNL act about an American Blues and Soul revivalist band
to the top of the charts. The Blues Brothers' songs include “Rubber
Biscuit” and “Soul Man.”
Klenfner
later helped steer Cher's comeback with her 1998 hit “Believe.”
He
promoted hundreds of other musicians in a career spanning more than
30 years.
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