Dean Kay

Dean Kay (born June 21, 1940) is a US American entertainer, recording artist, songwriter and music publishing executive.^[1]

Dean Kay
Birth name	Dean Kermit Thompson
Also known as	Dean Kay
Born	(1940-06-21)June 21, 1940
Origin	Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, Rock & roll, Psychedelic rock, Jazz
Occupation	Composer
Instruments	Vocals Piano Guitar
Years active	Since 1962

Early life

Dean Kay was born on June 21, 1940 in Oakland, California. He attended San Jose State University from 1958 to 1962.^[2]

Career

While a student at San Jose State University, he began his professional career as a featured entertainer alongside singing partner Hank Jones on the five-day-a-week daytime Tennessee Ernie Ford Show^[2] from San Francisco. They recorded for both Del-Fi Records and RCA Victor.^[3]

As a songwriter he laid out songs for many top recording artists, including "That's Life"^[4] for Frank Sinatra.^[5]

He served as the chief operating officer (COO) for Lawrence Welk's music publishing companies for 18 years.^[6] Later, he became President/CEO of PolyGram International Publishing.

Throughout his career, he has played a key role in safe guarding the creative legacies of^{[clarification needed]} Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Cole Porter, Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Johnny Horton, Don Williams, Bob McDill, Wayland Holyfield, Ricky Skaggs, Rick Springfield and many others.

Kay currently sits on the board of directors of ASCAP,^[7] and the ASCAP Foundation.^[8] His past roles include positions on the Boards of The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA),^[9] The Harry Fox Agency (HFA)^[10] Country Music Association (CMA), Academy of Country Music (ACM), the California Copyright Conference (CCC),^[11] and the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP).^[12]

Kay publishes a daily email news digest called The Dean's List, which covers news about music, copyright and new technology in the entertainment industry.^[13] It has a sister web publication, The ASCAP Daily Brief, which is powered by The Dean's List.^[14]