Alex Cooley, music promoter, Died at 74

  Business, Music

Alex Cooley was born in 1939 in Atlanta, and died on December 1, 2015.

He was an American music promoter, Atlanta International Pop Festival and Music Midtown.

Known as “the unofficial mayor of Atlanta music,” is credited as the man who brought rock and roll to Atlanta.

In his lifelong career as a concert promoter, Alex puts on thousands of shows, bringing to his hometown almost every major musical act in the world for millions of music fans.

Alex owned and operated some of the city’s legendary rock music nightclubs, in addition to founding the Music Midtown festival in 1994.

Alex brought a variety of high-profile performers, including Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones, and Madonna, to such Atlanta venues as the Fox Theatre, the Omni, Chastain Park, and the Lakewood Amphitheater.

In 1974, Alex opened Alex Cooley’s Electric Ballroom, where many stars, including Bruce Springsteen, made their Atlanta debuts.

Alex also owned the Coca-Cola Roxy, the Tabernacle (located in the same building where his mother attended church as a child), and the Cotton Club.

Alex Cooley passed away at age 74 in December 2015.