Features
Patrick Stansfield Dies
Patrick Stansfield, the legendary tour and stage manager who helped create the modern arena rock concert, died early this morning in his sleep at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. He was 70 and died of kidney failure.
Stansfield was involved over the years with artists including Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Grateful Dead, Santana, Tina Turner, and countless others. He produced Diamond’s film vehicle “The Jazz Singer” and Streisand’s “Barbra: The Concert.”
He started his career as a stage manager for the late Bill Graham at FM Productions and later made a name for himself as a giant figure in concert production and beyond: In 1987, he transformed Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for a papal visit and got a repeat call from Yankee Stadium in New York in 2008.
A co-founder of the Parnelli Awards, the industry honored him with a surprise Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award in 2005. Stansfield leaves his wife Claudia, two daughters and three grandchildren. There are plans for a December memorial service in Los Angeles and possibly one in Las Vegas in November right before the Parnelli Awards, according to PLSN.