A big name in rock music who put together huge tours for AC/DC and Dire Straits has died. He was 82 years old.
His company, TEG, said that Garry Van Egmond died on Saturday after problems with surgery.
The famous Australian from Melbourne worked in the music business and planned some of the biggest tours in the world, including ones for AC/DC.
More than 35 million tickets were bought for his shows.
Geoff Jones, CEO of TEG Group, said that Van Egmond was “not only a highly valued colleague but also a thoroughly decent person and a very talented person with the highest integrity.”
“His legacy will stand the test of time,” he stated.
“Respected music industry stalwart” was how his company described him in a touching tribute.
Van Egmond worked as a tour manager, theater producer, event merchandiser, marketer, and promoter in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia for almost 50 years.
Van Egmond worked with Dire Straits in 1986, Jesus Christ Superstar in 1992, Riverdance in 1997, and AC/DC in 2010. These were four of Australia’s biggest concert tours.
His Dire Straits tour sold 250,000 tickets in Sydney alone, which put it in the Guinness Book of Records.
It was the most tickets ever sold for more than 30 years, until Ed Sheeran’s tour in 2018 sold more than a million.
Another important person in the music business was in charge of AC/DC’s Black Ice Tour in 2010, which sold out faster than any other concert in Australian history.
Five hundred thousand tickets were sold in less than three hours. In Australia and New Zealand, the concert sold more than seven hundred thousand tickets.
He told Billboard on the day the tickets went on sale, “It’s been an amazing response.” I’m really shocked and amazed.”
Chriso Van Egmond, Van Egmond’s son, said that his dad was a “true gentleman in the business.”
He said he’s “highly regarded and respected by artists, managers, agents and everyone he worked with” .
“He was a superb mentor to me and I have enjoyed working with him for nearly 30 years,” said he.
“In that time, we’ve put on some amazing events in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.”
“He was a fantastic father and friend to me and will be missed dearly.”
He also had a daughter named Katie and two grandchildren named Hugo and Saskia.
