Music producer Jerry Wexler dead at 91

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Famed music producer Jerry Wexler reportedly has died at his home in Siesta Key, Fla., at age 91.

The Bronx, N.Y. native started his career as a writer for Billboard magazine in the late 1940s. It was there that he coined the phrase "rhythm and blues" as a replacement for the term "race records" used to chart such music at the time, Billboard.com said Friday.

He stayed at Billboard until 1951, then went to work for the music publishing arm of MGM Records known as Big Three.

Two years later, he was offered a partnership at Atlantic Records and stayed there until 1975. About two years after his departure, he began serving as a vice president of A&R for Warner Bros. Records and continued to produce.

Over the years, he worked with such iconic acts as Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the J. Geils Band, William Bell, Dire Straits and the B-52s, Billboard.com said.

Arrangements for his funeral have not yet been made public, the music Web site said.