Dave Shapiro, a groundbreaking music executive in the heavy metal and hard rock scene, was one of those killed in the Murphy Canyon plane crash early Thursday. He was 42.
Shapiro had a pilot’s license and was listed as the owner of the Cessna 550 that crashed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The music agency Sound Talent Group, which he co-founded, confirmed that he died, along with two employees.
“We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends,” the agency said in a statement.
Shapiro launched Sound Talent Group in 2018 with Tim Borror and Matt Andersen. The roster for the agency, with offices listed in El Cajon, New York City and Nashville, focuses on alternative bands across pop-punk, metalcore, post-hardcore and other popular subgenres.
The agency’s clients have included Hanson, Pierce The Veil, Parkway Drive, Sum 41 and Vanessa Carlton.
Shapiro was a strong advocate for independent musicians and a co-founder of the National Independent Talent Organization. He was included in Billboard’s 2012 “30 Under 30” list recognizing rising stars in entertainment. Industry veterans say Shapiro paved the way for the formation of other independent agencies and helped many alternative bands find audiences in the mainstream.
Today we are all mourning the tragic loss of our longtime friend and booking agent Dave Shapiro. Dave was fearless in life, and tireless in his work, and the kind of friend you would want on your speed dial. Dave seemed to always be working on a new endeavor, or to be going on a… pic.twitter.com/HO7cm8Aew0
— HANSON (@hansonmusic) May 23, 2025“Finding something you love to do is only going to make you do a better job because you actually care. You’re not just showing up for the paycheck, it’s not a 9-to-5,” he said during a music industry podcast in 2021. “This is part of living your life if you really love it.”
Shapiro grew up in upstate New York in the “straightedge hard-core” scene, a subculture that promotes not using drugs and alcohol, a reaction to mainstream punk.
In high school, he started a band with his friends; Victory Records signed them right when they graduated. They toured for a few years, during which he made connections in the music industry that would help his foray into the business side of the industry.
Shapiro said he became instantly hooked on aviation after taking his first intro flight at age 22. He seemed to love music and flying with equal passion, at one point opening an office of his talent agency at a hangar.
Flying “helps me focus and helps me not be distracted by all the nonsense in the world, and whatever’s going on outside the plane kind of doesn’t matter in those moments,” Shapiro said in a 2020 podcast interview.
Shapiro owned a flight school called Velocity Aviation and a record label, Velocity Records.
You changed the lives of so many people. Dave Shapiro forever. xxx pic.twitter.com/vW1PrBQ9vL
— sarah (@coffeeetrash) May 22, 2025He offered flights in both San Diego and Homer, Alaska, where he and his wife, Julia Pawlik Shapiro, owned a home, according to his online posts.
Shapiro married his wife in 2016 in the small town of Talkeetna, Alaska. They picked up their wedding licenses, got on a plane and flew to a glacier inside Denali National Park, landing with skis strapped to the plane’s wheels.
“When I met Dave, we became instantly bonded over the unconventional lifestyles we lead and our constant need for adventure,” she wrote in a blog post.
In 2020, he posted on Instagram that he had obtained his airline transport pilot rating, the highest level of certification issued by the U.S.
“Although I have a career and don’t plan to change that I always want to learn more and be a better pilot,’ he wrote on a post that was attracting multiple new comments salutes after his death. “Fly high. Rest in Peace,” one responder said.
He was also an adrenaline junkie who enjoyed base-jumping.
Tributes poured in Thursday from musicians and others in the industry who called him warm, genuine and someone who helped little-known bands put their names on the map.
“He would listen to any band you put in front of him to give them a chance,” said Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers, founder of public relations agency Big Picture Media, who worked with Shapiro for over 15 years.
A post on Hanson on the social platform X read, “Dave was fearless in life, and tireless in his work, and the kind of friend you would want on your speed dial … We are grateful for the 15 years we knew him.”
Nate Blasdell, former lead guitarist for the band I Set My Friends on Fire, said he was “absolutely heartbroken.”
“Dave was the first booking agent I ever worked with and he was a major part of my music career in my late teen years,” he said in a post on X. “He was truly the best in the game and one of the most respected people in the industry.”
Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley credits Shapiro to helping build the rock band back up during a “low point” in their career.
“His opinion mattered so much to me,” Whibley said. “He was that guy I would go to for advice on things.”
Shapiro had flown out in his new plane to see Sum 41’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in March. During their last conversation, he promised Whibley that he would return.
“Me and my wife, we’re going to fly to you,” Whibley said Shapiro said to him. “We’re going to pick you up and we’re going to go somewhere crazy for lunch.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Music exec Dave Shapiro, killed in Cessna crash, called ‘best in the game’ )
Also on site :