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Former N.W.A Manager Jerry Heller Dies at 75
Jerry Heller, N.W.A’s former manager, died Friday (Sept. 2) after a automobile accident, reportedly caused by a medical emergency. He was 75.
Although he was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries following a collision with a mini-van, Heller did not make it. It is unclear whether his death resulted from health troubles, the crash, or both, as per TMZ.
After working with Elton John, Pink Floyd, The Who, and more in the ’60s and ’70s, he managed N.W.A for four years in the late 1980s, just as the group launched. However, royalty disputes would later emerge with Dr. Dre and Ice Cube dissing Heller publicly over business dealings at separate times in their careers.
N.W.A’s MC Ren responded to Heller’s death with a statement to Rolling Stone. “From God we come and to God we return,” he said.
Recently, Heller filed a $110 million lawsuit against Straight Outta Compton producers over the way he was portrayed in the N.W.A biopic, a film that detailed Dre and Cube’s displeasure with his business practices.
Despite issues with members of the group, Heller said his relationship with Eazy-E was not strained. “He was like my son,” Heller told Rolling Stone last year. “He was a visionary. He was the greatest, and I’ve always believed that only he and I really understood the significance of what N.W.A was.”