Beatles Promoter Sid Bernstein Dies at 95
Music promoter Sid Bernstein, who worked with legends from Judy Garland to Jimi Hendrix and orchestrated the Beatles’ historic concert in New York’s Shea Stadium in 1965, died on Wednesday aged 95.
Bernstein, an agent and manager who according to his friend, publicist Merle Frimark, died in New York, worked with some of the biggest names in show business, including Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones and Ray Charles.
But it was through his concept of staging concerts at stadiums, and his help launching the so-called British invasion by first bringing the Beatles to the United States, that he made his biggest mark.
Bernstein once said of managing the Beatles that he had to convince Carnegie Hall and his financial backers to take a chance on “this then-unknown group” after he became “fascinated with the hysteria that surrounded them.”
Other top acts Bernstein worked with over the years included Tito Puente, Fats Domino and Tony Bennett.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30