Music Industry Veteran Joe Boyland Dies March 21, 2009
- Touring
By Ed Christman, N.Y.
Music industry veteran Joe Boyland passed away due to heart failure in his Nashville home on Tuesday (March 17). He was 61.
In recent years Boyland, an artist manager and producer, founded Big Street Entertainment, and served as a consultant to Eagle Rock Entertainment, where he helped to arrange deals between bands and clients for the licensing of musical content.
From 1987-2000 he was partners with Jan Roeg and Bob Cutarella in Legend Artist Management which managed Bad Company, Nazareth, and B.J. Thomas among others. Boyland and another partner Charlie Brusco co-managed Lynyrd Skynyrd and created the first re-union tour for the band. Boyland also produced several recordings by Lynyrd Skynyrd including "Live From Steeltown."
The Legend Artist Management partners formed two music publishing companies - Rondor Publishing and Hit List Music - which controlled and administered the hit songs that were recorded by Alice Cooper, Celine Dion, Jennifer Rush, Mya Amada, 38 Special and Johnny Van Zandt, among others.
"There has been such a heartfelt outpouring of people calling me to remember Joe and how he touched a lot of people," says Eagle Rock U.S. president Mike Carden. "Joe made everybody's life better in any way he could."
Boyland first decided he wanted to be in music after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, according to his friends. After playing bass guitar playing in a local band while growing up in North Carolina, he moved to Nashville where he, along with his partner at the time, Woody Bowles, discovered The Judds.
"Boyland was a friend and a confidant to artists and industry colleagues alike and maintained a strong passion for music up until the time of his passing," according to a note sent into Billboard by C Sharp Consulting partner Kent Anderson. "His hobbies extended outside music to include college football and collecting memorabilia from The Beatles.
"Boyland didn't want a service on his passing because he didn't want his friends to be sad, but there will be a party in his name at a later date," Carden reports.
Boyland is survived by his brother, Bill, his cousin, three children, and all his friends.
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