His death was announced by his daughter Mandy Stein.
Although the self-titled Ramones album was not a commercial hit upon its 1976 release, Sire held steadfast to the up-and-coming New Wave of musicians, soon signing Mudd Club regulars Talking Heads and the Chrissie Hynde-led American-British hybrid The Pretenders, both bands destined for major commercial success and critical acclaim. Sire would have its first No. 1 hit in 1979 with the quirky New Wave song “Pop Muzik” by M, and hit the charts again in 1981 with Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.
Other acts signed and championed by Stein include Cyndi Lauper, Barenaked Ladies, the Cure, Depeche Mode, the Smiths, Ice-T, Seal, K.D. Lang, the Replacements, Everything But the Girl, My Bloody Valentine and Men Without Hats, among others. Born Seymour Steinbigle in Brooklyn, New York, Stein began his music industry career after high school by taking a junior position at Billboard, then working at Cincinnati’s King Records and Red Bird Records, the latter a label founded by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that had a No. hit in 1964 with the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love.”