Craig Aaronson (A&R for My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World, the Used, more) has passed away

(Photo: Myriam Santos) 

We have received official word that longtime music industry executive Craig Aaronson passed away earlier today at around 1:00 p.m. PDT, after a long fight with cancer. Aaronson is perhaps most widely known for doing A&R at Warner Bros. Records, where he worked with a vast array of artists, including The Used, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, Against Me! and many, many more. He kicked off his resume by signing Jimmy Eat World to Capitol in 1995 for Static Prevails, and then served as A&R for their 1999 album, Clarity. However, he left the label in 1998, and then began his relationship with Warner Bros. Records. He also signed Less Than Jake twice—once to Capitol in 1996 and again to Sire/Warner Bros. in 2003. As aforementioned, Aaronson went on to work with countless bands from our scene, pushing them to heights that most wouldn’t have thought possible. He discussed signing Avenged Sevenfold in an interview, saying, “I just signed a new group that’s on an independent label called Avenged Sevenfold. I’m doing that together with Andy Olyphant. We’re going to put out the record next year, but we’re really excited.” Most recently, he was working with the record company Hundred Handed, who put out Coheed And Cambria’s most recent full-length album, The Aftermath: Descension.