Angelica A. Cob-Baehler, BHS 1989

Angelica Cob-Baehler, Veteran Music Industry Executive, Dies at 47
She was among Katy Perry's early champions and had an A&R role in 2008's "One of the Boys."

By JEM ASWAD  
Senior Music Editor
Variety, November 21, 2018

Angelica Cob-Baehler, a longtime music-business management and publicity executive, died Wednesday November 21, 2018 after a long battle with cancer, Variety has confirmed. She was 47.

She began her career as an intern at Elektra Records and after her graduation from UCLA was hired as a publicity assistant at Atlantic in 1993. There, she rose to senior director, working with Stone Temple Pilots, Kid Rock and Jewel before moving to Columbia Records as a VP in 2001. At that label, she worked closely with such acts as John Mayer, System of a Down and the Offspring, and also developed a strong relationship with a young singer whose album for the label was never released: Katy Perry.

Cob-Baehler moved to Virgin Records as an SVP in 2005 (which merged into the EMI Music Group), where she launched an ultimately successful campaign to bring Perry to the label. She played a large role in the A&R and creative direction of the singer’s 2008 breakthrough album, “One of the Boys,” as well as the follow-up, “Teenage Dream.” She was SVP of media and creative services at the company at the time of her departure in 2011, for an EVP marketing job at Epic.

After less than a year, she left the Sony Music label to join Jeff Kwatinetz at Prospect Park, which morphed into The Firm and later Big3/Prospect Park/Cube Vision, where she worked closely with Ice Cube, his son (and “Straight Outta Compton” star) O’Shea Jackson Jr. and other artists.

She was promoted to the head of music at the company in 2016 but became ill not long afterward and spent much of the past couple of years battling the disease. Known as “Geli,” Cob-Baehler was a friend (and former co-worker) of Variety’s music staff for more than two decades. She faced her illness with admirable courage, optimism and humor, even as the prognosis grew negative.

She leaves her husband, Chapman, and two young daughters. May she rest in peace.

Note: Cob-Baehler was born in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1971 and moved with her family to Burbank, California in 1981. She attended UCLA and graduated with a degree in Political Science in 1993.