Cindy Badell-Slaughter passed away in the early morning of August 5th at the age of 59 after a courageous battle with lung cancer.
Cindy was born on August 11, 1960 in New York City and grew up in Bethesda, MD. After graduating from high school, she spent a year in England at the Hartwell House, a very prestigious women’s business school. After coming back to the States, she moved out to California with a close friend to start their new adventure.
Cindy always had a love for music and quickly found her niche. She started in the music licensing industry in the mid-1980s at Lorimar Productions, which was later bought out by Warner Bros., working on shows such as Dallas, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, Full House, and Perfect Strangers. She moved on to be Director of Music Clearance for Evan M. Greenspan, handling their many syndicated and prime time series, feature films, and on-air promotion for Fox. She spent the next 10 years at CBS Television as Director of Music Operations West Coast, overseeing shows such as Touched by an Angel, Promised Land, Survivor, the CSI series, as well as movies for television, mini-series and on-air promotion for CBS and UPN. In October 2007, she and her husband acquired Heavy Hitters Music, an independent song catalog and music publisher serving the film, television and advertising industry. As president of the company she grew the business significantly by nurturing relationships with their artists and clients. Everyone in the business of licensing music knew and admired her. In an industry that can be unforgiving, she was a stand-up professional who spread kindness and encouragement to all.
Cindy’s passion for music, working with artists, and the film and television music industry was matched only by her dedication to working with youth and mentoring the next generation in the music industry. She was also a highly dedicated and active member of Glendale’s Church of the Brethren, a community she deeply loved. Cindy’s faith was very strong. She is one with God now. This is just a comma in her life, not a period.
She met her husband, Bill, in 1990 and married on February 13th, 1993. They settled in Glendale. They had a wonderful life together with family and friends. They traveled the world together and spent a lot of time at their 2nd home in Cabo San Lucas.
Cindy was the glue of the family, always making the plans for get togethers, especially holidays and birthdays. She was a gatherer and builder of human beings; a beautiful, kind and giving soul. She encouraged others to live every day as if it were the best day. She filled the world with a beautiful smile and a sweet spirit. Her last Facebook posts were about remembering all the fun times with good friends, celebrating her dear cat’s birthday, and challenging people to donate to a cause. Family, friends and giving; that was the essence of this beautiful woman.
She is survived by her husband, Bill, her brother Philip, her dear Auntie Laurette, along with many nephews, nieces and cousins whom she loved and adored.
A private funeral service is being scheduled in New York where she will be laid to rest with her family. A celebration of life event will be held at a later date when her life can be safely celebrated. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Reaching Youth Through Music Opportunities www.rytmo.org/donate, an organization she cared deeply about.
