[8] At the same time, Iovine vacated his positions as chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, ending his twenty-five year relationship with his label.

He was introduced to music production after he met a songwriter who helped him find a job as a recording studio cleaner, and he soon began working as an engineer.

Iovine also produced Bella Donna (the first solo album by former Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks),[26] Making Movies for Dire Straits, The Distance for Bob Seger and Get Close for The Pretenders.

[31] A year later, the label secured a distribution deal with Atlantic Records and garnered success with artists including No Doubt, 4 Non Blondes and Gerardo.

[34] A year later, Interscope became notable for providing distribution, initial funding and financial oversight for the highly successful Death Row Records.

Death Row, founded by Suge Knight, operated as a subsidiary of Interscope, beginning with the December 14, 1992 release of label artist and producer Dr. Dre's solo debut album, The Chronic.

With singles consisting of "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" and "Let Me Ride", both of which featuring labelmate Snoop Dogg, The Chronic managed to sell over five million copies in the United States and become Dre's best-selling album in his career.

[39] In November 1995, Interscope released Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt, which sold over 16 million copies worldwide as its single, "Don't Speak" made number one on Billboard's Radio Songs chart.

[41][42] In January 1996, Doug Morris, chairman and CEO of the music division of MCA Inc., convinced Iovine and Field to bring Interscope to the company in exchange for acquiring 50% of the label's shares for $200 million.

[44] By then, MCA was sold off by Matsushita Electric (also a parent company of Panasonic) to Canadian distillery and mass media conglomerate Seagram.

[45] With Interscope now under the MCA and Seagram shade, the label managed to gain more success with Tupac Shakur's double album, All Eyez on Me, which opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 566,000 copies sold in its first week.

[46] The album became another success for the rap division of the label and Death Row Records, where artist Dr. Dre felt uncomfortable due to founder and former CEO Suge Knight's consistent spending, violent behavior and gang affiliation.

[47] As a result, Dre departed from Death Row and re-signed with Interscope through a new label deal, creating his own imprint called Aftermath Entertainment.

[49][50] Iovine, as stated on the 2017 HBO documentary, The Defiant Ones, was pressured by Doug Morris to either give Dre time to control his music and artists or drop him from his label.

"[51] Interscope had further success with Tupac Shakur's posthumous record The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory as well as Snoop Dogg's Tha Doggfather and Bush's Razorblade Suitcase.

[60][61] In March 1998, Iovine invited Dr. Dre to his house to listen to the Slim Shady EP, released in 1997 by an underground rapper, who was participating a tournament of rap battles at the time, by the name of Eminem.

The album made its way to number two on the Billboard 200, helping to improve both Interscope and Aftermath after years of low sales.

[71] In June 2002 of the latter year, Iovine was able to manage to negotiate Eminem and Dr. Dre's joint venture agreement involving then-upcoming hip hop artist and fellow New Yorker 50 Cent.

[74][75][76] Due to A&M co-founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss (1935–2023) filing suit against Iovine, Interscope and UMG over a breach of agreement involving the label's operations, A&M Records had to remain fully operative as a one-off subsidiary of Interscope Records; the two plaintiffs were given a $200 million out of court settlement.

[89][90] In January 2013, Iovine announced the expansion of Beats into the online digital music world with Daisy, a new service slated to launch in late 2013.

Regarding the partnership, Iovine stated, “We wanted to start in the inner city, because Dre and especially me, I owe a lot to the inner city of Los Angeles and we intend to pay it back.”[104] In 2002, Iovine and former Shady Records president Paul Rosenberg co-produced 8 Mile, which opened at number one in the box office and went on to gross more than $240 million worldwide.

[106] Additionally, Iovine executive produced the 2005 crime drama Get Rich or Die Tryin', named after the 2003 debut album of its leading star, 50 Cent.

In 2005, Iovine made a guest appearance as himself on "Don't Make Me Over", an episode for the fourth season of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy.

[114] In July 2017, HBO ran a four-part documentary about Jimmy Iovine's relationship with Dr. Dre and other musicians titled The Defiant Ones.

[119] In May 2020, Iovine and Dr. Dre partnered with restaurant chain Everytable to provide 30 days of drive-thru meals to Compton residents.

[121] On May 17, 2013, Iovine received an honorary Doctor of Music degree[122] from the University of Southern California and gave the 2013 USC commencement address.

[125] According to Miller, the relationship ended in 1980, when Iovine began spending most of his time in California working with singer Stevie Nicks.

[126] Nicks has said that Iovine's despondence from the death of his good friend John Lennon overwhelmed her, and eventually led to the end of their relationship.