Tour Transport Pioneer Edwin Shirley Passes

LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Concert tour logistics pioneer Edwin Shirley, co-founder of Edwin Shirley Trucking, has died from complications of Cancer on April 16th. He was 64 at the time of his passing.

Shirley, along with his friend Roy Lamb, launched Edwin Shirley Trucking (later EST) in 1974, which, at the time, was the first transport company to specialize in transportation and logistics for rock music.

The company started small, with just one truck, but by the 1980s, was handling some of the largest tours in the market, including The Rolling Stones, and Paul McCartney and eventually became the largest such company in Europe.

Shirley also launched Edwin Shirley Staging, which built stages for shows such as London's Live Aid in 1985 and the exchange of Hong Kong from the U.K. to China.

In addition to his work with live music, Shirley also was involved with Three Mile Island Studios, a well-regarded film and television studio.

“Edwin’s vision, as well as his risk-taking, was outstanding and unstoppable,” Emma Pascoe, Shirley's longtime business partner and the daughter of his significant other told Projection Light & Staging News. “He believed in a gentleman’s handshake, and when he made friends, it was for life — his loyalty to them saw no bounds. He had the biggest heart you could ever imagine and his generosity with his time and his money was incredible, even when we didn’t have much for ourselves. He helped so many people to get into the industry.” – CelebrityAccess staff writers