Barry Fey is an American rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 concert promoter

Promoter (entertainment)

An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...

 based out of Colorado who is best known for bringing prominent music acts to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for the first time.

Career

Barry Fey's first concert was Baby Huey and the Babysitters in 1965 at the American Legion Hall in Rockford that made only $92. On December 26, 1968 Fey promoted the first Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 show in North America. Shortly after in June 1969, Feyline presented the 3 day Denver Pop Festival

Denver Pop Festival

The Denver Pop Festival was a three-day music festival promoted by rock promoter Barry Fey on June 27-June 29, 1969 which was largely overshadowed by Woodstock two months later. Unlike the free-form happening in upstate New York, the Denver festival had the full support and local resources of a...

, which featured the final performance of The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...

. Fey has promoted more shows with The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 and The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

 than anybody else alive all before the days of the "national tours."

In 1976 Fey's company Feyline started his Summer of Stars concert series at Red Rocks Amphitheater, which made Red Rocks the place to play for every group worldwide. For three consecutive years (1978, 1979, 1980) Fey was voted promoter of the year by Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine.

In 1983 Fey, Chris Blackwell

Chris Blackwell

Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell is a British record producer and businessman, who was the founder of Island Records, acknowledged as the most successful and groundbreaking independent record company in history. Blackwell has been a music industry mogul for over fifty years...

, and U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 produced the U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky concert film.

In 1997 Fey was voted into the Touring Hall of Fame by Performance magazine.

Besides concerts Fey has been credited with saving the bankrupt Denver Symphony

Denver Symphony Orchestra

The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado. Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a succession of theaters, amphitheaters and auditoriums...

, and forming the Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Colorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...

. He put them on a pay as you go basis and they are still thriving today. When the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Denver was facing destruction, Fey stepped in, and signed a ten-year contract, saving the building.

In 1983, he opened up the doors for Major League Baseball in Denver, by teaming up with Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio

Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...

, Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle

Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...

, Willie Mays

Willie Mays

Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...

, and putting on an old timers baseball game.

In 1991, Fey merged with Universal Concerts, which later bought him out in 1997, after a 30 year career. In an interview withImage magazine they called Fey, "Not only the best promoter in the land, but "A National Treasure."

President, Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, videotaped a message of thanks and congratulations upon Feys’ retirement in 1997.

2009-Current

In 2009 Fey got his own radio show called "Behind the Scenes with Barry Fey" on Mile High Sports Radio, 1510 AM that discusses the music business and sports with callers. Once rumored to have a serious gambling problem, (that he denies) Fey believes what will differentiate his program from others, will be his frank acknowledgment about the role of gambling in the popularity of many sports.

On January 1, 2010 his official website BarryFey.com http://www.barryfey.com appropriately titled the "Rockfather" was launched where he announced that he will be teaching a class "Real History of Rock -n- Roll" at the University of Colorado

University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 starting February 22, 2010 and doing speaking engagements worldwide. He also announced that he was in negotiations to write a tell all book about the music business.

November 1, 2011 Fey announced the the completion of his book "BACKSTAGE PAST" with forwards written by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

 and Pete Townsend.