A Man With A Media Message

The CEO of Bell Media, Randy Lennox, has taken Bell to the next level by combining traditional and digital media.

- Rick Muller

If you’ve ever been to an awards dinner, you’ve probably had to sit through at least one of them: those tribute videos to introduce an honouree’s lifelong achievements. Often, these are staid affairs, life summaries accompanied by a monotone voice-over, the perfect time to pass the dinner rolls or search for that errant dollop of salad dressing.

But this was not the case for the tribute video that honoured Randy Lennox, president of Bell Media and one of the communication world’s most influential media executives, at the 2017 Juno Awards in Ottawa. The video preceded the presentation of his Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award.

The tribute was an eye-popping mic drop, with music legends U2, Sting, Gord Downie, Peter Gabriel and Gene Simmons singing Lennox’s praises, alongside photos of Lennox with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and the Rolling Stones.

Lennox spoke about his reaction in a recent interview with Dolce. “It was one of the biggest surprises of my life,” he says. “When it opened with U2 cracking jokes, and they just kept coming, it was almost surreal. Particularly special was Gord Downie, who I’d known for 30 years and who was in challenging shape, as we know. That was a highlight for me. It was very humbling and heartwarming for me and my family.”

The tribute was a primer for anyone not previously aware of Lennox’s influence in the music industry. Not bad for a kid who got his start working in a record store. Lennox entered the industry not through the gold-record-adorned front lobby, but through the mailroom, rising through the ranks to eventually become president of Universal Music Canada.