Sting has paid tribute to the late music executive Jerry Moss.
The Police frontman wrote a tribute to the A&M Records founder after Jerry's death was announced on Wednesday.
"I first met Jerry Moss in 1979. I just got to California with the band and I hugged a palm tree. I'd never seen a palm tree in my life," Sting recalled to Billboard. "We booked into the Sunset Marquis and obviously sat at the swimming pool. And then in walked Jerry Moss and (A&M executive) Gil Friesen, two very tall, handsome, distinguished-looking Californian businessmen."
The singer continued, "Jerry really looked the part, I have to say: Such a striking, handsome guy. Jerry very quickly became a family friend rather than a record executive.
"But if I'm asked why I think they were so successful as a record company, I would say Jerry was, not to my knowledge, a cutthroat businessman, he was a gentleman first."
Calling the late music mogul a "friend", a "mentor", and a "confidante", Sting asserted, "I think his success was based on those very human qualities, rather than being some kind of shark."
Jerry and Sting met in March 1979, on the day The Police played their first Los Angeles show at the Whisky a Go Go. A&M Records later signed the band and their 1983 track Every Breath You Take spent weeks in first place on Billboard's charts.
"They were the perfect company for us. They were artist (friendly), they would be patient, and they knew what they were talking about," Sting continued. "They weren't like just the set of accountants, who are guessing. These guys knew the business."
