Shelley Lazar, known in the music industry as “The Ticket Queen” or as Keith Richards christened her the “MFTQ,” died of cancer earlier today (Sunday, March 31). The news was confirmed by Pollstar. Lazar was a pioneer who helped start the trend of VIP ticketing that has become so prevalent in the industry over the past decade.
“The Ticket Queen” was best known for her work handling VIP ticket services for such acts as The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Elton John but got her start as a public school teacher in New York City. Chris Rock and Scandal’s Patty Smyth were two of her students at Brooklyn’s PS 277. Lazar worked part-time in the early-70s in various positions within the music industry including catering, booking and logistics, yet it was the delicate art of handling guest ticketing in which she thrived. After a stint at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, she became an employee of impresario Ron Delsner and the two had a long and fruitful working relationship and friendship that lasted until her death. Along the way she spent time on the road with Bruce Springsteen organizing his guest ticketing, a role she held with a who’s who of rock legends.
In 1989, promoter Michael Cohl promoted The Rolling Stones’ famed Steel Wheels tour and worked with Lazar to create what Dean Budnick and Josh Baron’s Ticket Masters book called “the first large-scale VIP ticketing operation” for the band’s first tour since 1982. Shelley went to Michael with her plan and urged, “We can do it. Let’s dip our toes in the major markets. The worst that can happen is we don’t sell any and we release those tickets to public sale.” The effort was a huge success. Previously, Lazar has packaged great tickets with pre-show dinner packages on smaller scales as per Ticket Masters. Graham came calling shortly before his tragic death in 1991 to hire Shelley for Bill Graham Presents. She served as Vice President/Artist Relations and Special Projects Coordinator before striking out on her own in 2002. Lazar founded SLO Limited in 2002, a company that quickly became a successful VIP ticket service provider. Shelley sold SLO to Ticketmaster in 2008 but remained on as CEO.
Shelley had a huge heart and put in plenty of time and effort to various causes and non-profit organizations such as the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, Little Kids Rock and The Taylor Family Foundation. Lazar was also a lover of animals and french bulldogs in particular. JamBase sends its thoughts to Shelley Lazar’s friends and family.
Watch Paul McCartney dedicate “San Francisco Bay Blues” to Shelley Lazar at the 2013 Outside Lands festival in San Francisco:
Paul McCartney calling out Shelley – she was so excited she emailed me in 2013 ” Can you believe a Beatle knows my name?” Thanks, Marc Luber for the clip.
Posted by Gigi Shapiro Kulick on Sunday, March 31, 2019
Here’s a few remembrances of Shelley Lazar:
