John Reid (music manager)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Reid (born September 9, 1949 in Paisley ) is a former British music manager . He became known as the manager of the British rock band Queen and as the manager and lover of Elton John .

Early life

Reid was born in Paisley , Scotland, to the welder John Reid and the saleswoman Betty. After three years in New Zealand , he grew up in Paisley. He attended St. Mirin's Academy, where he was a classmate of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan . Then he attended Stow College in Glasgow , where he studied marine propulsion, but dropped out in 1969.

Career

At the age of 18, Reid began his career as a music manager as a promoter for EMI . At the age of 19 he became Tamla Motown's UK label manager. In 1971 Reid started his own company with savings of a few hundred pounds and a loan of 5,000 pounds.

He had met Elton John, who still called himself Reg Dwight, at a Motown Christmas party. They became lovers and moved in together. Elton John became Reid's first client. Their love affair ended after five years, but Reid remained Elton John's manager until 1998.

In 1974 Reid got into an argument with a journalist over a lack of whiskey at a press conference in a New Zealand nightclub and was sentenced to one month in prison. Between 1975 and 1978 Reid was the manager of the British rock group Queen . In 1994 he was the manager of the Irish dancer Michael Flatley . After Flatley left Riverdance and ended his relationship with Reid, Flatley paid Reid approximately £ 1 million to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit.

The professional relationship with Elton John ended with a leaked letter from John's accountants describing Reid's expenses, which were found by Benjamin Pell and published in the Daily Mirror . This led to a lawsuit in 2000. The lawsuit was settled out of court and Reid paid Elton John £ 3.4 million. Reid's firm made more than £ 73 million representing Elton John between 1971 and 1998. Reid left the management in 1999.

In 2005 he appeared as a jury member on the Australian version of the talent show The X-Factor .

Private

In 1998 Reid sold his art collection, valued at an estimated £ 2 million. He is said to be living withdrawn from the public in Australia today, and according to other media reports also in London.

Representation in film biographies

Reid was portrayed by Aidan Gillen in the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018 and by Richard Madden in the Elton John biopic Rocketman in 2019 . Dexter Fletcher directed both musical biographies .

While Reid is portrayed as a cold-hearted lover and main opponent of the film in Rocketman , he comes off much more positively in Bohemian Rhapsody and is shown as a supporter of Queen's rise to the famous band. Both films afford historical inaccuracies in Reid's biography: In the film Bohemian Rhapsody , Freddie Mercury ( Rami Malek ) fired him as a band manager in one scene, while the separation between Queen and Reid was actually harmonious. Rocketman portrays it in such a way that Reid no longer had any influence on Elton John from the 1980s - but in fact he was his manager until 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c thefreelibrary.com: For 28 years John Reid and Elton John were closer than husband and wife… it's going to be a messy divorce
  2. a b c d theage.com.au: Turning raw talent into TV stars
  3. irishtimes.com: Lord of dance appears to fall flat on his ego
  4. independent.co.uk: Hacker stole secrets of stars from dustbins
  5. independent.co.uk: Sir Elton John and his manager John Reid have been friends for years and suffered their fair share of rows
  6. news.bbc.co.uk: Leaked letter 'enraged' Sir Elton
  7. telegraph.co.uk: Ex-manager hears singer talk of 'betrayal'
  8. Kate Storey: Elton John and John Reid's Relationship Imploded After What We See in 'Rocketman'. May 30, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019 (American English).
  9. independent.co.uk: John Reid, guru to Elton John, sells art collection to `` simplify his life ''
  10. Kate Storey: Elton John and John Reid's Relationship Imploded After What We See in 'Rocketman'. May 30, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019 (American English).
  11. thewrap.com: 'Rocketman' Film Review: Elton John Gets a Musical Fantasy That Sometimes Achieves Liftoff
  12. Rocketman Villain John Reid Is In Bohemian Rhapsody Too, Here's The Full Story. June 17, 2019, accessed July 17, 2019 .