NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Live Nation NYC Chairman Ron Delsener, a veteran of the concert industry with career that spans more than six decades in one of the United States’ most important concert markets, announced plans to step away from his role in the company.
“It’s been a great honor to have played a role in bringing music’s biggest stars to stages across New York,” Delsener said in a statement provided by Live Nation.
“Ron helped bring concerts to New York for 50+ years and supported countless artists along the way. We wish him all the best in his next chapter,” Live Nation said.
Delsener, a New York native, got his start in the concert industry working for the promoter who staged The Beatles first outdoor concert at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens.
He went on to promote shows by artists such as Barbra Streisand, Woody Allen, and Frank Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and the Count Basie Band conducted by Quincy Jones.
Delsener was the first promoter to stage major concerts at Wollman Ice-Skating Rink New York City’s Central Park in the 1960s, presenting performances by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix while making them accessible for fans with $1.50 concert tickets.
As well, he played a key role in the transition of the iconic Jones Beach Amphitheater to a major concert venue in the early 1980s and oversaw a renovation of the venue in 1992, expanding its seating capacity.
Delsener also served as the exclusive contemporary music booker for the Garden State Arts Center—now known as the PNC Arts Center and oversaw concerts throughout New York and New Jersey through his company, Ron Delsener Presents.
In 1996, Robert F.X. Sillerman acquired Ron Delsener Presents for $27 million and leveraged Delsener’s expertise as he began acquiring other regional promoters around the U.S., creating a company that would eventually become Live Nation.
Delsener, who is now 86, famously pledged to never retire. “I’m never gonna retire. I’m gonna die with my boots on,” he told Newsday in a 2014 interview.
Update: Following his exit from Live Nation, Delsener plans to continue working as an independent promoter through his company, Honest Concerts.
Delsener’s retirement from Live Nation was first reported by Pollstar.
