Jonathan Mayers, a Founder of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, Dies at 51

New York Times

3 days ago

Jonathan Mayers, a founder of the Bonnaroo music festival, a star-studded annual extravaganza held on a poplar-dotted Tennessee farm, and Outside Lands, a three-day musical gathering in the foggy mists of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that has been called a love letter to its host city, has died. He was 51.
His death was confirmed in a social media post by Outside Lands. The post did not say where he died or cite a cause.
Mr. Mayers grew up outside New York City and, after graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1995, got his start on that city's storied music scene. He worked with Tipitina's, the nationally famous music venue, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, known as Jazz Fest.
In 1996, he joined Rick Farman, Kerry Black and Richard Goodstone to found Superfly, a music promotion company. Their first concert, in New Orleans, featured the Meters, the venerable funk band; the saxophonist Maceo Parker; and the Rebirth Brass Band.
Bonnaroo started in 2002, the result of Superfly's partnership with Ashley Capps, of the concert promotion company AC Entertainment, and Coran Capshaw, the founder of Red Light, a music management and promotion company. The festival's name, inspired by the Dr. John song 'Desitively Bonnaroo,' meaning roughly 'a really good time' or 'good stuff' in Louisiana slang.
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