Tracey Jordan

Over the course of a wide-ranging and groundbreaking career in the music industry, Tracey J. Jordan has played an instrumental role in developing, promoting, and exposing such icons as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, and Notorious B.I.G., to name just a few. Most recently, Tracey was Senior Director of Talent & Industry Relations for Sirius XM Satellite Radio Inc., overseeing the day-to-day talent booking and development for SiriusXM’s urban contemporary, urban AC, urban classic, hip hop, urban talk, jazz, gospel, Latin and Studio 54 channels. In that capacity, she worked in tandem with the company’s various programming, marketing, and promotional teams on maintaining a presence for the satellite radio giant at large-scale events including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, SXSW, Coachella, Governor’s Ball, The Rolling Loud Festival, The BET Awards/Experience Weekend, the Essence Music Festival, The Soul Train Awards, and The Soul Train Cruise.

Originally from New York City, where she attended the famed High School of the Performing Arts and took business courses at Cornell, Tracey J. Jordan was born with music in her bloodline. She is the daughter of NEA Jazz Master vocalist Sheila Jordan and Duke “Jordu” Jordan, jazz pianist for, among others, saxophone great Charlie Parker. Her own career in the music industry began at the public relations firm of Solters, Roskin, Friedman, where she created and implemented worldwide media campaigns for Motown Records (and its executives and artists, including Berry Gordy, Vanity, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross), Tony Bennett, Morris Day of The Time, and Dolly Parton.

Tracey got her first position at a record label at renowned music executive Clive Davis’s Arista Records, where she was Director of R&B Artist Development & Publicity. She then went to Motown Records as Vice-President of Artist Development & Video Production for legendary music man Jheryl Busby, where she became the first African-American to be named VP of Video Production at an American recording label. Jordan then made a leap to MTV, again in a pioneering role as the first African-American Vice-President of Music Talent Development and Video Programming for the music video-based network.

In her ten years at Sirius XM, Jordan curated hands-on recorded content for “Artist Dedicated” Pop-Up Channels and worked closely with Sirius XM’s legal department to secure clearance from the estates of Prince, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., 2-PAC, and Miles Davis, as well as securing broadcast clearances to build channels honoring Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Motown, Tina Turner, and The Apollo Theatre. She was also responsible for booking talent for the channels and programmers she oversaw, including LL COOL J’s Rock the Bells Radio, Heart & Soul, Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong/Tuff Soca/Tuff Beats, The Joint, The Groove, Soul Town, The Jimmy Jam Show, SiriusXM FLY, Kirk Franklin’s Parise, Silk 330, Real Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Urban View, Sway in the Morning, Studio 54 Radio and the All Music is Black Music podcast. It was also Jordan’s responsibility to be on location, and legally clear sets for broadcast, at many live music events, among them The Apollo Small Stage Series, The Blue Note Jazz Festival, The Blue Note Jazz Cruise, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Rolling Loud Festivals in Los Angeles and Miami, The BET Awards (for seven years) and the Essence Music Festival (eight years).

In her professional capacities, she has worked with veteran artists (a long list that extends from New Edition to Boyz II Men to Earth, Wind & Fire and Janet Jackson to A Tribe Called Quest and Run-D.M.C.), as well as contemporary superstars and up-and-coming artists such as The Migos, Cardi B, Wiz Kalifah, NE-YO, Victor Manuelle, J. Balvin, Luis Fonsi, Bad Bunny, Andra Day, Post Malone, Chloe & Halle, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, H.E.R., Ella Mai, Khalid, Juice WRLD and many others. 

Jordan has also been honored for her community-minded endeavors and has served as the Vice-President and currently serves on the Board of Governors, for the NY Chapter of the Recording Academy (the GRAMMYs). Jordan received the New York Urban League’s Building Brick Award in 1988, the Environmental Media Award for the video “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology),” the Support Network’s Community Service Award, in 2022 the T.J. Martell Foundation’s Women of Influence Award and in 2023 The Mike Bernardo Female Executive Award from the Living Legends Foundation.