About Phil Thornton
Born and raised in the Norfolk, Virginia, Thornton knew that he wanted to be part of the entertainment business at age 10, and by the time he was 12, his fascination with radio landed him an internship at WOWI-FM, a local radio station. Three years later, at only 15, Thornton became an intern and rising star at Arista Records, working with Notorious BIG, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin to name a few. Thornton didn't stop there. As a marketing major at Norfolk State University a few years later, he and a fellow student wrote a 40-page proposal to the school's president to have the college radio station, WNSB, Hot 91.1-which could be heard all over Virginia-switched from all jazz rotation, to a hip-hop and R&B format. The president loved the idea and Thornton went on to become 91.1's student music director, turning the station into an overnight sensation that rivaled other Virginia FM stations, and attracted celebrity guest hosts like Diddy, and at the time, up-and-coming artists like Pharrell Williams. After graduating in 2003 and moving to New York City, Thornton started his first company, Bright Star Entertainment, an artist management/consultant firm where he represented artists such as Bad Boy Records' GRAMMY® award-winning group 112 and singer Lil' Mo. In 2007, Phil 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 conglomerate. In October 2016, Ten2One along with Sony Pictures Television and Thinkfactory Media, released the made-for-TV film, Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Miche'le. The biopic, based on the life of R&B recording artist Miche'le, premiered on Lifetime Network and garnered an impressive average of 2.3 million viewers the night it debuted. Overseeing the artist management side of Ten2One, Thornton has guided the careers of Faith Evans, Michelle Williams, Kenny Lattimore, and Mack Wilds. He was also responsible for launching TV One hits including "LisaRaye: The Real McCoy", which set ratings records at TV One, and "I Married A Baller," starring former NFL running back Eddie George and his wife Taj, of the multi-platinum recording group SWV. Thornton served as executive producer of TV One's hit show "R&B Divas Atlanta," which included cast members such as Faith Evans, KeKe Wyatt, Monifah Carter, and Syleena Johnson, as well as its wildly popular spin-off "R&B Divas L.A.," which has featured Kelly Price, Michel'le, Chante Moore, Lil' Mo, Chrisette Michelle, and Claudette Ortiz. But that's not all. In addition to running Ten2One, Thornton was recently named senior vice president and general manager of RCA Inspiration, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, where he works with a wide range of inspirational artists including Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp and Donnie McClurkin. "I am really excited about writing a new story here at RCA Inspiration," Thornton says. Prior to his position at RCA, Thornton served as vice president and general manager, Urban Inspirational at eOne Music, where he oversaw a diversified list of Gospel, Christian, and R&B artists such as Lalah Hathaway, Erica Campbell, Michelle Williams, Shirley Caesar, Jonathan McReynolds, and Tweet. The company enjoyed much success with Hathaway's single "Angel" (from her album Lalah Hathaway Live), which held the No.1 spot on the charts for nine weeks. Thornton still serves as executive producer on the eOne-created hit s...