SLO Ticketing founder and VIP ticketing pioneer Shelley Lazar has passed away at the age of 69.
A friend to stars such as Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger, Lazar began working in the business in the 1970s while still a school teacher in New York.
Lazar worked at several businesses before becoming the manager of the ticket office at Madison Square Garden. She later moved to San Francisco and worked for Bill Graham Presents as VP of artistic relations and special projects coordinator from 1991 to 2002.
She founded SLO VIP Ticket Services in 2002, a new company that worked with leading artists to offer packages to big-spending fans.
SLO was acquired by Ticketmaster in 2008, with Lazar remaining as president. At the time she said the company hopes to utilise its “deep ties and long history in the concert industry” to deliver unique concert-going experiences.
As a Ticketmaster company, SLO VIP Services specialised in creating fan experiences and providing premium seating access “once available only to artist’s friends, family and their celebrity guests,” according to SLO VIP Services’ website.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of Shelly Lazar’s passing,” Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, said in a statement.
“She was a one-of-a-kind character and a tough-as-nails businesswoman. Her passion, tenacity and love of music will be remembered by all of us at Live Nation. Our thoughts are with family, friends and all who knew her.”
McCartney paid tribute by sharing a photo on Twitter of him presenting a birthday cake to Shelly.
Fond fun memories of our lovely MF Ticket Queen, Shelley x #MFTQ #ShelleyLazar #rip pic.twitter.com/xf82znq5JQ
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) April 1, 2019
Lazar also sat on the board of the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, Little Rock Kids, the Taylor Family Foundation, Tipping Point Community, Human Rights Watch and the Elton John AIDS Foundation and served as co-executive producer of the award-winning documentary Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.
IMAGE: Paul McCartney (Twitter)
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