Alex Cooley

Alex Cooley (born December 15, 1939 in Atlanta , Georgia , United States , † December 1, 2015 in Ponte Vedra Beach , Florida ) was an American organizer of rock concerts and music festivals . He has received media titles such as "The Mayor of Music" and "the Guy who brought Rock and Roll to Atlanta" (the guy who brought Rock and Roll to Atlanta).

life and work

After attending the Miami Pop Festival , Alex Cooley decided to organize similar festivals in his hometown of Atlanta. On July 4th and 5th, 1969, over a month before the Woodstock Festival , the first Atlanta International Pop Festival took place. Attendees included Janis Joplin , Johnny Winter , Blood, Sweat & Tears , Canned Heat , Joe Cocker , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Led Zeppelin and many more. The festival drew more than 100,000 spectators (some estimates go as high as 150,000). The second (and final) edition of the festival in the following year was even more successful with 500,000 spectators over three festival days.

In his four-decade career, Alex Cooley has organized thousands of concerts and brought almost all of the well-known popular musicians to Atlanta. He ran several well-known rock theaters, including Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom (1974–1979) and The Great Southeast Music Hall, and founded the Music Midtown Festival in 1994 with his long-time business partner Peter Conlon.

In 1987 Alex Cooley was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Obituary , legacy.com, accessed March 7, 2018
2. ↑ Biography on Alex Cooley's website
3. ↑ Atlanta Magazine, January 5, 2011 (English) ( Memento of 19 October 2011 at the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Georgia Encyclopedia (English)
5. ↑ Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom , accessed March 7, 2018
6. ↑ Alex Cooley ( Memento from January 23, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

Web links

• Alex Cooley's website
• Alex Cooley in the Internet Movie Database (English)