Kendall Minter, a respected American attorney who represented several Jamaican artists, died on December 6 in Atlanta, Georgia. The ndtmusic.edu.vn website reported the cause of death as cancer.
The New York-born Minter was a graduate of Cornell University’s Law School. He came to prominence during the 1980s when there were not many black entertainment lawyers in the United States.
He advised acts such as Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Shabba Ranks, Third World, and Denroy Morgan, as well as jazz legend Lena Horne and pop group TLC.
Minter played an influential role in the world of sports and issues related to the black community. He was the lawyer to former heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer and provided counsel to South African anti-Apartheid icon, Bishop Desmond Tutu.
He was a co-founder of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association.
Jamaican attorney Lloyd Stanbury knew Minter for over 35 years. He remembers him as “a great source of inspiration and encouragement for me as a young entertainment lawyer.”
He disclosed that “I met Kendall Minter in the 1980s when I used to be a regular participant at the New Music Seminar in New York. He was the most well-known black entertainment attorney in New York at the time and was also a regular visitor to Jamaica.”
Minter’s counsel was sought regularly by Jamaican acts during the 1990s when several of them including Shabba Ranks and Mad Cobra were selling gold (500,000 units) in the United States.
He also served on the Board of Directors for the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, was member of the Board of the Living Legends Foundation and Board of Directors of Sound Exchange, Inc.
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