PROMOTEROBIT: Jess Nicks

The death has been announced of Jess Nicks. Although perhaps best known these days as father of Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac, Nicks made a wider contribution to the development of pop culture in 1979 when he (more or less) single-handedly invented the ampitheatre as venue:

"He was a pioneer," said Valley concert promoter Danny Zelisko of Evening Star Productions.

"Compton Terrace was one of the first 'sheds.' When Jess opened it, there weren't many venues like it. No one thought to dig a hole in the ground and hold concerts outdoors. Now there are 50 or 60 across the country," Zelisko said.

In recent years, Nicks (and his daughter) had been working to raise funds for the Arizona Heart Foundation.

On her website, Stevie Nicks wrote the following about her dad:

"He was a force of nature. He waited until the Fleetwood Mac Tour was over - I asked him for that. He waited until this summer tour was over - I asked him for that. He couldn't leave us during a tour - he knew that. . . . He waited for me."

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