Primary Wave Music Publishing is to acquire a majority stake ownership interest in the music publishing catalog, as well as artist royalties, of soul legend Donny Hathaway.
The acquisition includes some of Hathaway’s biggest hits such the Grammy Award winning single Where Is the Love, The Ghetto, Someday We’ll All Be Free, as well as the holiday classic This Christmas, which was included as one of Rolling Stone’s Top 100 songs and has been covered by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Destiny’s Child, Train, Pentatonix, Aretha Franklin, Lady Antebellum and more.
Primary Wave will partner with the Donny Hathaway estate to not only market his catalog of music, but also to pitch licensing opportunities for his name, likeness and brand.
Born in Chicago in 1945, Donny Hathaway began singing in church with his grandmother at a very early age.
He began playing piano and by high school he was impressive enough to win a full scholarship to Howard University to study music in 1964.
While in college, he performed with a cocktail jazz outfit called the Ric Powell Trio, and wound up leaving school after three years to pursue job opportunities he was already being offered in the record industry.
Hathaway first worked behind the scenes as a producer, arranger, songwriter and session pianist/keyboardist.
He supported the likes of Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler, and the Staple Singers, among many others, and joined the Mayfield Singers, a studio backing group that supported Curtis Mayfield’s Impressions.
Hathaway soon became a house producer at Mayfield’s Curtom label, and in 1969 cut his first single, a duet with June Conquest.
From there he signed with Atco as a solo artist, and released his debut single, the inner-city lament The Ghetto, Pt. 1, toward the end of the year and has been sampled by numerous hip-hop artists.
The song also set the stage for Hathaway’s acclaimed debut, Everything Is Everything, which was released in early 1970.
A year later he released his sophomore album and recorded a duet with Roberta Flack, covering Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend.
The song reached the Top 10 on the R&B charts and sparked a full album of duets which was released in 1972.
Hathaway also branched out into soundtrack work, recording the theme song for the TV series Maude and scored the film Come Back Charleston Blue.
Hathaway released another album in 1973 before taking a brief break from recording. He returned in 1977, recording another duet with Roberta Flack, The Closer I Get To You.
The song was a smash, becoming the pair’s second R&B number one in 1978, and also climbing to number two on the pop charts.
“We look forward to working together to bring the music of our beloved Donny Hathaway to listeners for generations to come.”
Eulaulah Hathaway
“We are very excited about partnering with Primary Wave,” said Eulaulah Hathaway.
“Their track record of success with other legendary artists makes them the ideal partner for this endeavor.
“We look forward to working together to bring the music of our beloved Donny Hathaway to listeners for generations to come.”
“Donny Hathaway was one of the greatest singers of our time with a voice as smooth as anyone. It’s an honor to represent his music.”
Lawrence Mestel, Primary Wave
Lawrence Mestel, CEO & Founder of Primary Wave Music Publishing, added: “I want to welcome the Hathaway family into the Primary Wave family.
“Donny Hathaway was one of the greatest singers of our time with a voice as smooth as anyone. It’s an honor to represent his music.”Music Business Worldwide