Music exec Tommy Mottola, who has helped the careers of Hall & Oates, Mariah Carey and Diana Ross, has his brand new star unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, Shakira and Ricky Martin, as well as working with such superstars as Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Beyonce and Tony Bennett.
The Bronx-born Mottola grew up a fan of R&B and pop music in a neighborhood where doo-wop singer Dion was the local hero, digging on James Brown, Joe Tex, Otis Redding and Jackie Wilson.
“That changed my life,” says Mottola, who eventually set up his own Champion Entertainment shingle to manage the group, along with Dr. Buzzard and, for a time, John Mellencamp. “Morita and Ohga were creative people at their core,” Mottola says. “Ohga was an opera singer and his wife a renowned concert pianist, Midori Matsubara. He got that I was a music guy. He gave me a green light to do whatever I wanted.”, whose multi-octave range knocked him out when he first heard her sing in a small workshop room accompanied only by a piano player. “It was an all-encompassing infatuation,” he says, admitting even his therapist warned him not to go there.
“The bigger she became, the more pressure it put on both of us, and the relationship,” recalls Mottola ruefully. “Once she became an established global superstar, she knew how to do every-thing. She didn’t need me any more. … We see each other here and there, and it’s always pleasant. I only hope good things for her. Life is too short.”
“I got lucky,” he admits. “God was good to me. I feel amazingly blessed. To have people who you care about and care about you. My primary concern is my wife and children. And hopefully do some great work, like we’ve always done.”
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