Gary Kurfirst is dead, ... Options

[The Quebeker]

http://www.canoe.com/divertissement/musiqu...8038351-ca.html

It's in french but they say he's dead...

[ShadowStormEK]

http://www.canoe.com/divertissement/musiqu...8038351-ca.html

It's in french but they say he's dead...

Gary Krufist Death

That's an article in English.

KURFIRST PASSES
Longtime Manager for Talking Heads, Blondie, Ramones, B52s, Eurythmics and Chris Blackwell Partner Dies While in Nassau, Bahamas

January 14, 2009

Longtime manager and label executive Gary Kurfirst passed away while on vacation in Nassau, Bahamas yesterday (1/13).

Over the course of four decades, Kurfirst has been involved with groups generating record sales in excess of 100 million units worldwide. He first opened the doors to the infamous Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967, where he promoted the East Coast debuts of Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page's Yardbirds.

In 1968, at 20 and a year before Woodstock, he created the model for the contemporary music festival by producing and promoting the legendary New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, featuring shows by Hendrix, the Doors, Joplin, the Who and the Stooges, among others. He also managed Mountain from 1967-'75.

In 1971, Kurfirst signed the Brazilian artist Deodato and helped guide his album to gold status with a #1 single. In 1975, he helped Chris Blackwell introduce reggae to America with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

In the '70s and '80s, Kurfirst helped usher in the punk and new wave era in music by managing punk icons the Ramones, art-rockers Talking Heads, the B52s, Blondie, Deborah Harry, Annie Lennox's Eurythmics and Jane's Addiction. He had two of his management clients, the Heads and Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, the only manager to have that distinction.

Kurfirst also produced three feature-length films in the Heads' critically acclaimed and award-winning concert film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme; the quirky satire True Stories, directed by David Byrne; and Siesta, directed by Mary Lambert and featuring an all-star cast including Jody Foster, Ellen Barkin, Isabella Rossellini and Martin Sheen, as well as a soundtrack by Miles Davis.

In 1990, Kurfirst joined forces with MCA and launched Radioactive Records, with the band Live. The band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, which include two chart-topping albums. Kurfirst also signed Shirley Manson in 1991 and then brokered her deal with Almo as the lead singer of Garbage, who went on to sell more than 10 million albums.

In 2002, Kurfirst and longtime friend Chris Blackwell launched two new music ventures: a talent management company, Kurfirst-Blackwell Entertainment, and Rx Records.

This post has been edited by ShadowStormEK: Jan 16 2009, 11:58 am