Ken West

His family issued a statement that said: “We bring unfortunate news that, Ken West, a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away ...

Sorry to hear of the sudden death of Ken West, founder of the Australian touring festival the Big Day Out. Ken made the whole thing like a party for punters and artists alike. UK bands called it the Big Day Off. Lots of fun memories hanging with Ken and the BDO crew. He really believed in the Australian music industry and he made it better, more vibrant and far more exciting. My first festival experience was 94@bigdayout– I then was lucky enough to play at over 20 of them. What a titan and a culture mover. “Our family would appreciate respect and privacy during this difficult time.

The founder of legendary Australian music festival Big Day Out has died. Ken West died at the age of 64 on Thursday morning. His devastated family paid tribute, ...

The Big Day Out was the biggest festival in the world for a while there … and by god did we have fun. “Our family would appreciate respect and privacy during this difficult time. The founder of legendary Australian music festival Big Day Out has died.

West produced the renowned festival, which was held in five Australian cities as well as Auckland in New Zealand, but last took place in 2014.

The Big Day Out was at the forefront of Australian music festivals for 22 years.

"It is a pinnacle moment." Continually evolving and growing for over 20 years." That’s a massive statement." "It was a real badge of honour," said Adalita, frontwoman of Magic Dirt. "A real prestigious thing. It was really important." "It was important. The explosion of Australian alternative music in the '90s was synonymous with the Big Day Out. The festival took fledgling bands out of the pubs and in front of thousands. "I wanted urban mayhem but with good drainage, toilets & production. You just know that it's now or never." "There’s life before the first Big Day Out and life after the Big Day Out," The Living End's Scott Owen told Double J in 2019. "Our family would appreciate respect and privacy during this difficult time. "I think there was a period in time there that it was the best festival in the world, and every band I knew wanted to do it," West told Double J's Inside the Big Day Out podcast in 2019.

Ken West, who founded and created the Big Day Out Festival, has tragically passed away in his sleep at the age of 64.

Ken, along with his business partner Viv Lees, produced the record-breaking Big Day Out festival that toured Australia and New Zealand from 1992 through to 2014. “We bring unfortunate news that, Ken West; a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of the 7th April 2022. The first Big Day Out festival, which West organized in January of 1992, featured 21 bands, headlined by Violent Femmes, and most famously featured Nirvana at their peak.

Ken West, co-founder of the popular Australian touring music festival Big Day Out, has died. West and Vivian Lees launched Big Day Out in 1992.

Ken West and Vivian Lees launched the Big Day Out in Sydney in 1992. From 1994 onwards, Big Day Out lineups typically featured many dozens of performers, a large percentage of which came from overseas. Ken West, co-founder of the popular Australian touring music festival, Big Day Out, has died.

Big Day Out was originally created in 1992 by West and fellow promoter Vivian Lees as a one-off event in Melbourne. The following year, the event expanded to ...

The Big Day Out was it. I remember watching all the footage from the Big Day Out on Channel V every summer as a kid. I spoke to Ken a few months ago for a piece on the BDO anniversary, and he was so generous with his time and patient with all my questions. He couldn’t wait for people to read the history he’d put together in the book.https://t.co/K9RO4AxpDA The news was confirmed by his family in a statement, per Double J, that reads: “We bring unfortunate news that Ken West; a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of April 7 2022. In January, West shared a few chapters from the project on new website “ Kenfest” – Big Day Out’s original working title.

The vibrant music promoter passed away 'peacefully in his sleep' at his Central Coast home on Thursday, his family have confirmed. 'We bring unfortunate news ...

I will let you know, when I know.' 'As for the E-book, that’s another story. Continually evolving and growing for over 20 years.' A different world, innocent, dangerous, optimistic and a lot of fun,' he wrote. Human alchemy was taken to its limits. Pictured: West in 2001

Music promoter Ken West, the founder of Australia's iconic music festival Big Day Out, has died aged 64. Launched in 1992 as a Sydney-only event featuring ...

Soon after I decided that visual art was a dying medium and music was where the real anarchists thrived,’ West wrote. His death was confirmed in a statement from his family: ‘We bring unfortunate news that Ken West, a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of the 7th April 2022. The sheer breadth and scale of his vision is all the more apparent in review.

Ken West, co-founder of the Big Day Out, "passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of the April 7, 2022," a statement reads.

Sorry to hear of the sudden death of Ken West, founder of the Australian touring festival the Big Day Out. Ken made the whole thing like a party for punters and artists alike. UK bands called it the Big Day Off. Lots of fun memories hanging with Ken and the BDO crew. UK bands called it the Big Day Off. Lots of fun memories hanging with Ken and the BDO crew. Legendary British singer and songwriter Billy Bragg remembered West and the BDO. “Ken made the whole thing like a party for punters and artists alike. I spent the best part of two decades on a daily basis with Ken, he was my friend, my advocate, my inspiration, my mentor and on the odd occasion my tormentor too. “We did bloody great things together, and his vision changed the face of Australian live music.

A music writer who covered every Big Day Out between 1994 and 2014 pays tribute to the festival's founder, who died this week.

A few years ago, finding myself coincidentally a row in front of him for a show by one of my all-time favourites, Underworld, at the Sydney Opera House, I turned around at the end of the night and thanked him profusely for giving me my first experience with them, and so much more. West was no saint, as could be attested by everyone from the national event co-ordinator and close confidante Sahara Herald, and Lees, who had a famously volatile relationship with him, down to the visiting constabulary. He told Double J’s history of the festival three years ago that before that first BDO it was a case of “Sometimes in life, it’s a slow-motion version of a critical incident. Only someone divorced from (financial, at least) reality could believe there was a point in a festival that wasn’t just focused on the biggest names around, or this year’s musical trend, but might highlight next year’s or the year after’s. Who figured that metal fans and punk fans and electronica fans might go beyond coexisting to cross-fertilising. People toured with Lees & West because they knew they would be treated properly with quality production, facilities and support staff. West moved and thought and exploded at full speed, often moving on calmly while everybody else, still rocking, tried to recover.

The Australian music industry is mourning the death of Big Day Out co-founder Ken West, who died yesterday at the age of 64.

— JoRoberts (@Jo_Roberts13)April 7, 2022 The term 'rite of passage' gets thrown around, but that's what Ken West & Viv Lees created for a generation of Australians. What a time we had. In them, he reflected on his experiences as a Big Day Out co-founder, retelling stories from the festival’s early days. What a titan and a culture mover. His impact on Australian culture and the music scene was unmatched. Ken West, founder of the Big Day Out, has died at 64. Farewell to a legend. That was the goal. “He was my friend, my advocate, my inspiration, my mentor and on the odd occasion my tormentor too. Here's one of those times, ft.@NeilHamburger. West’s family confirmed the news in a statement, writing: “We bring unfortunate news that Ken West; a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of April 7 2022. Then he and

Ken West, the co-founder of the iconic Australian festival Big Day Out, has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 64.

“The Big Day Out provided me with the greatest job in the world,” West wrote. “Our family would appreciate respect and privacy during this difficult time. "Ken was big and noisy in life but passed quietly and peacefully"