Brian Avnet, who began his long career as a road manager for Bette Midler and later managed such top acts as The Manhattan Transfer, David Foster, Josh Groban and Eric Benét, died in Los Angeles on Wednesday (May 14), after living with Parkinson’s disease for many years. He was 82.
Avnet was inducted into the Personal Managers Hall of Fame in 2017, in the same class as Sid Bernstein, Eileen DeNobile, Eric Gardner, Richard Linke, Lois Miller, Eliot Roberts, Dolores Robinson, Arthur Shafman, David Sonenberg, Rick Siegel and Jerry Weintraub.
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04/14/2025On hearing of his death, Linda Moran, CEO of the Songwriters Hall of Fame told Billboard, “Brian was loved by everyone who knew him. [He] was a familiar face at Atlantic and WMG over the years as most of his artists were signed there.”
Based in Los Angeles, Avnet was a personal manager for nearly 40 years. In addition to those named above, his clients also included Johnny Mandel, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Alpert, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Joshua Ledet, Cyndi Lauper, Take 6 and Jean-Luc Ponty.
Avnet worked with Midler in the early days, starting when she was playing bathhouses in New York before bursting to stardom in the early 1970s. Avnet served as general manager for Midler’s 19-show run at the Palace Theatre in New York in December 1973 for which she won a special Tony Award “for adding lustre to the Broadway season.”
He managed The Manhattan Transfer for 19 years starting in the late 1970s, including when they landed their biggest hit, “Boy From New York City.” That song made the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981 and won a Grammy for best pop vocal performance by a duo or group with vocal.
Avnet was a personal manager for Foster, a 16-time Grammy-winner. In that capacity, he worked on recording projects by such stars as Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Toni Braxton, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Faith Hill, Brandy, En Vogue, Olivia Newton-John, The Bee Gees, Michael Bolton, All 4 One, Julio Iglesias, En Vogue and Smokey Robinson.
He played a key role in discovering Groban, whom he later managed. He found the singer through Seth Riggs, the top vocal coach, and brought him to Foster.
When Foster signed a deal with Warner Bros. in 1995, it enabled him to start 143 Records. Foster hired Avnet to run the label, with a roster that included Groban, Michael Bublé, The Corrs and Beth Hart. Bublé’s first three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 – Call Me Irresponsible, Crazy Love and Christmas – were released on the 143 imprint, as were Groban’s first two No. 1 albums on that chart – Closer and Noel.
The Corrs, a sibling pop band from Ireland, had three Billboard 200 albums while on the label; Hart, a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter, had one.
Foster later sold the label back to Warner. On Sept. 20, 2001, Warner Music Group announced it was shutting down the label.
Avnet’s widow Marcia Avnet told Billboard that her husband grew up in Baltimore and started his career in theater. “He was the youngest theater manager,” she said. “Actually, he used to manage the theater in-the-round in Maryland and then he was roommates with Dustin Hoffman in New York. And Jon Voight. They were all roommates when those guys were doing summer stock. Brian was in management, he ran the ticket booth, did lots of different jobs.”
Early in his career, he served as producer of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Voight at the Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y.
He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1974 to work with Lou Adler on the production of the Rocky Horror Show, which played at The Roxy for nine months. It was turned into a film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the following year. The film has long been a cult favorite. Avnet also produced the rock opera Tommy in Los Angeles; and served as manager for the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.
He also managed the first season of the Universal Amphitheater.
Avnet worked with producer Robert Stigwood on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road, an off-Broadway production which opened at the Beacon Theatre in New York in November 1974 and ran for two months. The show was loosely adapted into an ill-fated 1978 film version starring The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton.
Avnet frequently participated in events like Grammy Career Day. At a 2009 workshop, he served alongside such industry professionals as John Burk, Tom Sturges, Tina Davis, Rickey Minor, Harvey Mason Jr., Mike Knobloch and Javier Willis.
The Avnets were together for 36 years; married for 26 of those years.
“It was a really long career, and he was beloved,” said Marcia Avnet. “He never signed a contract with anybody. His word was his bond. And that’s really rare.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.
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