NEWS
Jonathan Mayers, co-founder of events company Superfly Entertainment and co-creator of festivals such as Bonnaroo and Outside Lands has died.
His death was first reported by Billboard – a cause of death has yet to be announced, and the late executive’s age is publicly unknown.
Mayers’ death comes just days ahead of Bonnaroo 2025 in Manchester, Tennessee between June 12 and 15. The festival will feature headliners Tyler, The Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, Hozier and Luke Combs, as well as acts like Dom Dolla, Avril Lavigne, Glass Animals, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Queens of the Stone Age and more.
Jonathan Mayers co-founded Superfly Entertainment with Kerry Black, Rick Farman and Richard Goodstone in 1996, and collaborated with AC Entertainment’s Ashley Capps, agent Chip Hooper and manager Coran Capshaw to launch the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2022.
Following Bonnaroo’s success, Mayers and Superfly co-founded the Outside Lands Music and Arts festival in 2008 – its first event was headlined by Radiohead, Tom Petty and Jack Johnson. Other headliners over the years included Muse, Neil Young, Phish, Metallica, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Nine Inch Nails, SZA, Kendrick Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter.
This year’s festival – due to take place in August – will be headlined by Doja Cat, Tyler, The Creator and Hozier.
Mayers’ time with Superfly Entertainment came to a bitter end in 2021 after tensions arose between him and other co-founders during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was terminated from his position in the company in August 2021, and in early 2022 filed a lawsuit against the company for breach of contract, fraud for allegedly low-balling his values of shares in the company and more – a judge dismissed the suit in 2023.
In a statement to Billboard, Another Planet Entertainment – who co-founded Outside Lands alongside Mayers and Superfly – said of the late exec: “Jonathan was a bright light, always pushing new and creative ideas in the entertainment space,” they said. “He was a visionary who was integral in the founding and the spirit of Outside Lands. Everyone in the Another Planet family will miss him dearly.”
Peter Shapiro, founder of Dayglo events and the Brooklyn Bowl added: “Jonathan was one of the true real visionaries of the modern concert world and one of the core minds behind Bonnaroo. Modern-day festivals are all in some way built off of his vision.”
NEWS
Oliver Tree’s team has provided a new update following the singer’s death in a helicopter crash on June 14, confirming that a new artist grant will soon be established in his memory to help creatives secure funding, a plan he had detailed in his will before his passing.
Accompanying a collection of photos highlighting Tree’s performances, travels and creative work through the years, a post shared Sunday (June 21) on his Instagram account revealed that the musician’s remains have been brought back to California, the state he called home and where he will be laid to rest. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the caption reads. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing.”
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the statement continued, adding that “the constant love, support and positivity” shown by fans throughout the past week has helped his “family, friends and collaborators make it through these extremely difficult times.”
Tree was among six people who lost their lives in a helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro. The musician was in Brazil for his The World’s First Tour run and had performed what would ultimately be his final concert on June 6 in São Paulo. The other victims of the crash were identified as passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim and Lucas Brito Chaves, along with pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.
Just months before his death, Tree discussed his plans to direct his fortune and future earnings from his music toward a grant program for artists during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I take no credit for anything I’ve ever done,” he said during the April interview. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that any of the wealth or things that get made from it is mine. So when I die … my will is set up so that when I pass, my family, nobody is going to get a penny.”
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a penny,” he added at the time, explaining that the initiative would focus on helping artists create work rather than funding education. “I’ll get my kids through college, that’s the agreement, but there’s not gonna be a silver spoon. All the money is going to go back to artists.”
