TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) — Canadian promoter and manager has Martin Onrot died on Aug. 24th. He was 82.
He passed away at North York General Hospital after a battle with dementia, surrounded by his family.
Onrot was a major figure in the Canadian entertainment industry, serving as a concert promoter and manager in the region for decades.
“As I was coming into the music industry, Marty was the grown up in the room,” says Larry LeBlanc, senior writer with “CelebrityAccess. ” I went to hundreds of shows promoted by him, many of which influenced my music sensibility for decades. Not only was he the primary promoter of a generation of Canadian artists, but he also had close ties to leading British and American artists of the era as well. Plus, he was a stand-up guy who kept his word and artists and managers were loyal to him.”
Onrot got his start in the mid-1960s as a talent manager, overseeing the early careers of artists such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell before they relocated to the U.S. and then entering the concert promotion business with the launch of Martin Onrot Associates.
He was one of Toronto earliest club bookers and was the first to bring comedian Bill Cosby to the market and later a national tour.
He was also one of the directors of the Mariposa Folk Festival when it moved to Toronto’s Maple Leaf Stadium in 1964 and had a lock on Massey Hall in the 1970s, promoting almost every major concert at the historic venue.
He also brought major touring international acts such as Elton John and Cat Stevens to both Toronto, and to Canada for national tours.
He also continued as a talent manager in the 1970s, co-founding Revolution Artist Management with Mort Ross and guiding the careers of some of Canada’s most popular acts, such as Crowbar, and Scrubbaloe Caine.
Along with his work on the live side of the business, Onrot worked in the label world, serving as Vice President of Mort Ross’ Revolution Records Limited in the 1970s and in the 1980s as GM of Dallcorte Records when the label had success in Canada with acts such as the Cutting Crew (“I Just Died In Your Arms”), the Drivers, and Elkie Brooks.
Onrot also established the promotion company/management agency Encore Productions Ltd. and in 1984, was named as Programming Manager of the O’Keefe Center, eventually becoming Senior Programming Manager in 1987 and General Manager three years later.
More recently, Onrot was president and owner of The Group Tix Company, an independent agency offering ticket purchasers access to theatre and events.
