Rick Blackburn

{{short description|American music executive}}

Richard "Rick" Blackburn (16 November, 1942 – 30 November, 2012) was a Nashville music executive.{{cite web|title=Former record exec Rick Blackburn dead at 70|url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20121203/BUSINESS/312030054/Former-record-exec-Blackburn-dead-at-70?nclick_check=1|publisher=The Tennessean|accessdate=7 December 2012}} He was a president of Atlantic Records in Nashville and shared his skill with Mercury Records and Epic Records.{{cite web|title=Record Industry Veteran Rick Blackburn Dies|url=http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/113190/record-industry-veteran-rick-blackburn-dies|publisher=All Access Music Group|accessdate=7 December 2012}} Blackburn was known for hiring top artists like Ricky Van Shelton and George Jones and for dropping Johnny Cash off at Nashville Records around 1985 or 1986. He retired from the music industry in the 1990s and died in his Tennessee home of kidney failure.{{cite web|title=Retired Record Executive Rick Blackburn Dead at 70|url=http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1698266/retired-record-executive-rick-blackburn-dead-at-70.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207051353/http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1698266/retired-record-executive-rick-blackburn-dead-at-70.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 7, 2012|publisher=CMT|accessdate=7 December 2012}}