Norton Records Co-Founder Billy Miller Has Died
By Sam Sodomsky.
Billy Miller, co-founder of seminal rock’n’roll, soul, and rockabilly label Norton Records, has died following his battle with multiple myeloma, the label confirms. Miller ran the label, as well as the early fanzine Kicks, with his wife Miriam Linna. They also collaborated in the musical groups the Zantees and the A-Bones.
Miller and Linna founded Kicks Magazine in 1978 after they met while Linna was playing drums for the Cramps. After running the zine together for nearly a decade, the pair started their label as an offshoot, with their first release, Hasil Adkins’ Out to Hunch, released in 1986. Norton Records has lasted three decades and has issued new singles by bands including the Black Lips and King Khan as well as reissues by Sun Ra, Alex Chilton, and the Flaming Groovies.
This year, Linna addressed Miller’s health problems, discussing his battle with multiple myeloma as well as recent kidney failure and the loss of his leg due to diabetes. In January, the two opened up their first storefront shop in Brooklyn. Below check out a YouTube playlist of music released and reissued by Norton as well as an interview with Miller discussing the state of the label in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
This story originally appeared on Pitchfork.
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