The Top 20 Music Managers of All Time

Music Managers: Top 20

Here’s the top 20 music managers (with some of the best-known artists they’ve managed in parentheses) as determined by an aggregation of multiple lists. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories. 1. Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones) 2. Brian Epstein (The Beatles) 3. Colonel Tom Parker (Elvis Presley) 4. Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin) 5. Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols) 6. Don Arden (Black Sabbath) 7. Allen Klein (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones) 8. Don Kirshner (The Monkees, Kansas) 9. Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, The Band) 10. Kit Lambert (The Who) 11. Robert Stigwood (The Bee Gees) 12. Lou Pearlman (Backstreet Boys, N’ Sync) 13. Tony Defries (David Bowie) 14. Irving Azoff (Eagles) 15. Chris Stamp (The Who, Jimi Hendrix) 16. Simon Fuller (Spice Girls) 17. Jon Landau (Bruce Springsteen) 18. Dee Anthony (Tony Bennett, Peter Frampton) 19. Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber) 20. Joseph Jackson (The Jackson 5) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories First posted 5/20/2017; last updated 1/26/2022.

Today in Music (1960): Elvis hit #1 with “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”

Are You Lonesome Tonight? Elvis Presley

Writer(s): Lou Handman, Roy Turk (see lyrics here) Released: November 1, 1960 First Charted: November 7, 1960 Peak: 16 BB, 16 CB, 15 GR, 14 HR, 22 CW, 3 RB, 14 UK, 11 CN, 16 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.0 UK, 9.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 45.1 video, 85.91 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Are You Lonesome Tonight?,” “one of the more woebegone songs ever written,” SF was penned by Tin Pan Alley songwriters Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It included a narration based on a speech from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. It was first recorded by Al Jolson FB and soon after by Vaughn Deleath and Henry Burr. It was revived in 1950 by bandleader Blue Barron KL and made popular again in 1959 by Jaye P. Morgan. FB Barron and Jolson’s versions of the song included the spoken word section, but it wasn’t in all the versions. SF Prior to managing Elvis Presley, Colonel Tom Parker was the manager for singer Gene Austin. One of his best numbers was “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and a favorite of Parker’s wife Marie. TC He asked Elvis to record it on behalf of his wife. KL Elvis obliged on April 4, 1960, copying “Jolson’s arrangement note for note and almost word for word.” KL The session had “the intimacy of a man singing close to the microphone in the wee small hours.” TC The spoken word section “becomes a lover’s conversation.” TC Some people were bothered by what they perceived as Elvis’ move away from rock and roll. Indeed he “had grown up considerably since his hard rockin’ days,” TC upon his return from army service in Germany, but this wasn’t exactly a new direction. In 1958, he released “another lost love song with a narration.” KL The B-side for “All Shook Up” was “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” a song associated with the Ink Spots. KL The song was featured on the EP Flaming Star, which wasn’t really a soundtrack to the Elvis movie of the same name since it was his first film to feature him in a dramatic, non-singing role. “Lonesome” was Elvis’ 14th song to top the U.S. pop charts. It debuted at #35, higher than any other Elvis song had entered the chart up to that point. It was on top of the chart two weeks later. It was also his sixth #1 in the UK. Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 81. TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 31-2. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 73. SF Songfacts Related Links: First posted 3/19/2021; last updated 5/14/2025.

Today in Music (1957): Elvis at #1 for 8th week with “All Shook Up”

All Shook Up Elvis Presley

Writer(s): Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley (see lyrics here) Released: March 22, 1957 First Charted: March 30, 1957 Peak: 18 BB, 18 BA, 17 DJ, 19 JB, 13 HP, 17 CB, 16 HR, 11 CW, 14 RB, 17 UK, 11 CN, 5 AU, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 7.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 64.60 video, 147.75 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The song is credited to Otis Blackwell and Elvis although the singer had nothing to do with writing it. Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, often demanded a share of the songwriting credit be given to his client. SF However, accounts of Elvis’ involvement are disputed. In his book Last Train to Memphis, Peter Guralnick says Elvis came up with the idea for the refrain, WK and Elvis himself claimed he got the idea for the song from a dream when he woke up all shook up. He then phoned a friend and told him about it and by morning had a new song. WK Meanwhile Al Stanton, one of the owners of Shalimar Music – Blackwell’s publishing company – says the song came out of an incident in which he shook up a bottle of Pepsi and then suggested Blackwell write a song based on the phrase “all shook up.” WK Blackwell was struggling to write a follow-up to “Don’t Be Cruel,” his first chart-topping hit for Elvis. He took up the challenge as a dare and finished the song in a couple of days. SF Regardless of its origins, Elvis was not the first to record it. Under the stage name David Hill, the actor David Hess recorded it for Aladdin Records. Hess claimed he came up with the title, Blackwell wrote it, and then Elvis was given a co-writing credit in order to get him to record it. WK Elvis recorded it at Radio Recorders in Hollywood on January 12, 1957. The Jordaniares and the Blue Moon Boys are featured on the record. WK Four gospel songs recorded from the two-day session were released on the Peace in the Valley EP the same month as the “All Shook Up” single. FB “All Shook Up” logged eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 which, in 1957, was a mix of three charts – Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played by Jockeys, and Most Played in Jukeboxes. The song topped all three of those charts. All told, its time atop the four charts spanned from April 13, 1957 to June 17, 1957. The latter chart was discontinued in June 1957, making “All Shook Up” the last song to top that chart. WK “All Shook Up” was named Billboard’s song of the year, following his “Heartbreak Hotel” song topping the list for 1956. This makes him the only artist to top the year-end chart in two simultaneous years. FB All told, Elvis spent 50 weeks at #1 in 1956 and 1957 with eight different songs. SF In The Complete Beatles Chronicle, author Mark Lewisohn says the Beatles (when they were known as the Quarrymen) regularly performed the song from 1957 through at least 1960 with Paul McCartney on lead vocal. In his book John, Paul & Me, Len Garry, a former member of the Quarrymen, says it was one of the songs the group played on July 6, 1957 – the day when John Lennon and Paul McCartney met. WK There’s no known recording of their version. WK Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 21. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/30/2019; last updated 5/15/2025.