From the personal collection of Russ Thyret, the man who signed Prince to Warner Bros. Records—an official strip plate-style RIAA gold sales award presented to former Warner Bros. Records chairman and CEO “Russ Thyret to commemorate the sale of more than 500,000 copies of the Warner Bros. Records long-playing record album ‘1999.’” Presented in a vintage RIAA frame with its original disc, plate, and small album image to an overall size of 16.75 x 20.75. In fine condition. An extraordinary Prince artifact from the collection of the Warner Bros. executive who signed him to his first recording contract.
Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Recordmecca's Jeff Gold, who writes: “This award was presented to Russ Thyret (1944-2021), the former Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Records, and the executive responsible for signing Prince to the label. In 1976, while head of promotion for Warner Bros., Thyret heard Prince’s demo tape, and immediately recognized that the unknown artist had enormous potential. After signing Prince, the two worked closely together for many years. I am a former Executive Vice President / General Manager of Warner Bros., and worked closely with both Prince and Russ Thyret, and obtained this directly from Thyret’s estate.”
