GQ magazine has named Jimmy Iovine “Icon of the Year” commemorating his 30 plus years in music and film and his newest venture into technology with Apple’s acquisition of Beats by Dre. 

In the interview, Iovine discusses how he helped broker the $3 billion Apple deal. The acquisition was apparently years in the making. “I convinced them that they had to buy this company,” recalled the music mogul. “I said, ‘I don't want to work for anybody else. I want to do this at Apple. I know I can achieve this at Apple. I don't want to shop it. I wanna come here, to Steve's company. I know you guys; I know what you're capable of; I know you get popular culture. I know you have a hole in music right now; let me plug it.’ I think it was two years before they said, 'yeah.'”

What was missing from Apple, Iovine explained, was a strong presence in music streaming. “I could see they needed something. Beats Music fit.”

Elsewhere, Iovine talks about his start in the music industry, meeting Eminem and working with Dr. Dre. The two met more than 20 years ago and founded Beats by Dre in 2008. “We trust each other implicitly,” explained the 61-year-old mogul. “It's the closest to a band as I was ever in. We know what each other does, and we trust each other's instincts so much that when he's moving somewhere and I go, ‘No,’ he goes, ‘Okay, let's not do that.’ We've been through a lot; this is a guy — I always say, ‘You may know a lot of people who have gotten shot, but you don't know a lot of people who have shot back.’”  

Click here to win a trip to the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration in Phoenix, AZ, plus 4 tickets to the Big Game.

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

(Photo: Gus Ruelas/Landov)