Prior to joining Capitol CMG, Thornton was Senior Vice President/General Manager of RCA Inspiration—the Nashville-based Gospel music label that operates under Sony Music’s Provident Music Group—a position he held since 2016. Among his many recent accomplishments at that label, Thornton signed a deal with Mariah Carey to release a new Christmas tune, “Fall In Love At Christmas” (featuring Khalid and Kirk Franklin) via her MARIAH imprint; he paired H.E.R. and Tauren Wells (now signed to Capitol CMG) for the GRAMMY-nominated collaboration, “Hold Us Together (Hope Mix)”; collaborated with The Orchard to sign Tribl Records, home to genre superstars Maverick City Music worked with Republic Records and Quality Control Music/Motown for the recording and launch of Lil Baby’s and Kirk Franklin’s “We Win (Space Jam: A New Legacy”; partnered with Pharrell Williams for his Voices Of Fire choir, which was chronicled in a Netflix documentary series.
Thornton also paired Kirk Franklin with Live Nation Urban for his Exodus Music & Arts Festival, developed and produced Kirk Franklin’s Good Words podcast, partnered with Snoop Dogg for his devotional Bible Of Love album, and signed breakout artist Koryn Hawthorne.
Previously, Thornton served as Vice President and General Manager of Urban Inspirational at eOne Music from 2012 through 2016, where he oversaw a diversified list of Gospel and R&B artists, including Erica Campbell, Shirley Caesar, Jonathan McReynolds, Tweet and Lalah Hathaway, whose album, Lalah Hathaway Live, held the Number 1 spot on the R&B radio chart for nine weeks and won three Grammy awards.
In 2007, Thornton settled in Los Angeles and partnered with Marcus Spence and Paul Coy Allen to form the successful Ten2One Entertainment, a multimedia, television production, and artist management company. While there, Thornton led the management team and guided the careers of Michael B. Jordan, Faith Evans, Michelle Williams, Kenny Lattimore, and Mack Wilds. After graduating from Norfolk State University in 2003 and moving to New York City, Thornton started his first company, Bright Star Entertainment, an artist management/consultancy firm where he represented artists such as Bad Boy Records’ GRAMMY®award-winning group 112 and singer Lil’Mo.
Phil Thornton was born and raised in the Norfolk, Virginia, and graduated from Norfolk State University in 2003 with a degree in Marketing. |