Angelo A. Ellerbee

Public relations professional Angelo Ellerbee was born on January 9, 1957 in Newark, New Jersey to Eva Ellerbee and June Angus Ellerbee. He received his A.A. degree in fashion design and buying in 1978 from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

During the late 1970s, he worked as a stylist for clients ranging from Newark First Lady Muriel Gibson to Nina Simone and Essence magazine while organizing fashion shows in New York City. His public relations career began in the 1980s when American jazz and R&B musician James Mtume hired him as his publicist and later vice president of Ifland/Mtume Corporation. Ellerbee then joined Chrysalis Records as a director of publicity and artist development. He promoted the careers of artists like Gang Starr, Innocence and Urban Soul. In 1985, he became the founder and president of Double XXposure Media Relations Inc. Ellerbee’s clients included top music artists such as Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Ginuwine, Roberta Flack, Robert “Kool” Bell, Dionne Warwick, NFL player Ricky Williams, track & field star Angelo Taylor, and NBA player Ben Gordon. Ellerbee worked as senior vice president of publicity for Island Def Jam Records. He was hired as president of rapper Earl “DMX” Simmons’s label Bloodline Records in 2000. Ellerbee is the author of Ask Angelo: An Inside Look at the Entertainment Industry (2016) and The Sense of Success (2018).

A lifelong advocate for LGBTQ community causes and organizations, Ellerbee served on the board of directors for the Gay Men’s Health Alliance and as chairman of the board for Gay Men of African Descent. He was also chairman of the board of the Mary Ellen Foundation, a mental health non-profit.

Ellerbee received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newark-Essex Pride Coalition in 2008 and the Diamond Award from the Black Fairy Godmother Foundation in 2022.

Ellerbee lives in North Bergen, New Jersey.

Angelo Ellerbee was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 9, 2023.