Mick Brigden, a beloved artist manager, passed away on Sunday, Sept. 5, following an accident on the property of his home in Santa Rosa, California. He was 73.
His family confirmed to TODAY that the accident occurred while he was "he was attempting to dig a grave for his family’s dog at his home."
Brigden spent decades of his career as a manager and road manager of musicians like Peter Frampton, Van Morrison and Carlos Santana. He also directed tours for the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. He is best known for spending 30 years managing Grammy-nominated solo guitarist Joe Satriani.
Brigden was born Nov. 4, 1947, in Southend-On-Sea, England, but ultimately left for Canada when he was 19, according to his obituary. He moved to Toronto and worked as a graphic artist before moving to New York after meeting Felix Pappalardi from rock band Mountain in the late 1960s and becoming their road manager.
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In July 1969, Brigden met his wife, Julia, and rock concert promoter Bill Graham when they all attended a concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. Brigden became Graham’s protégé and worked for him for seven years before he took over the management division of his company, Bill Graham Presents. At BGP, Brigden and his co-lead, Arnie Pustilnik, launched Wolfgang Records in the late 1970s, and "Take Me Home Tonight" singer Eddie Money became the label's first signing.
Brigden and his wife eventually settled down in Santa Rosa in 2001 after spending time in the San Francisco Bay Area. He later discovered his talent for growing grapes in his vineyard, used to make Owl Ridge cabernet.
Satriani penned an essay in honor of Brigden on his website.
“He was the ultimate music business mentor,” Satriani wrote. “Honest, tough, nurturing, hardworking, respectful, tenacious, insightful, he was all of those things and more. I learned so much about how to be a good person from Mick. Throughout his illustrious career he worked with the biggest and the best, but always knew it was important to be kind, be respectful, be cool and do things the right way.”
Rocker Sammy Hagar also shared a post on Facebook honoring the late Brigden. They toured together when Bridgen was managing rock band Humble Pie and Hagar's band Montrose opened for them.
“Mick Brigden was the first person that ever took care of me on the road,” Hagar wrote. “Montrose opened for Humble Pie for the three years we were on the road. Mick was their tour manager, lighting director, stage manager, seemed like he did everything. He used to do lights for Montrose and would hang out with us on days off, a real soldier and loyal friend.”
Brigden is survived by wife Julia, son Jack, stepdaughter Jessica and grandson David.
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