Mervyn Conn
{{short description|British music executive}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox person
| name= Mervyn Conn
| birth_date = {{birth_date and age|5 February 1934}}
| occupation = Music industry executive
| known_for = {{bulleted|Managing pop music tours in the United Kingdom of famous artists|Director of the Melody Maker Wembley Arena Shows|Launching the "International Festivals of Country Music Tours|Touring theatre productions}}
}}
Mervyn Conn (born 5 February 1934){{Cite web|url=http://www.arcmusic.org/data/today/feb/feb5.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722190050/http://www.arcmusic.org/data/today/feb/feb5.htm|url-status=dead|title=The ARChive of Contemporary Music|archivedate=22 July 2011|accessdate=12 January 2020}} is a British music promoter and entrepreneur.
Biography
=Early life and career=
Conn born in 1934 started work in the fashion industry, but by the early 1960s, with the help of his cousin, the comedian Bernie Winters, he had begun running a club, Romano's, in Gerrard Street in Soho, London. He worked closely with agent Joe Collins (the father of Joan and Jackie Collins), and staged the first Beatles Christmas Shows in 1963.
Management career
He then managed many of the major pop music touring shows in the UK, including those headlined by such bands and musicians as P.J. Proby, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Billie Jo Spears, Chubby Checker, Marlene Dietrich, Sarah Vaughan, Chuck Berry, Peggy Lee, the Red Army Ensemble and many more. He also directed the Melody Maker Pop Shows held at Wembley Arena in the 1960s.
He then launched the annual International Festivals of Country Music held at the same venue between 1969 and 1991. The shows were later taken into Europe, and featured such stars as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, Billie Jo Spears, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
More recently he has been responsible for major touring shows including Annie and Three Steps To Heaven.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stanlaundon.com/wembley.html|title=THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS OF COUNTRY MUSIC AT WEMBLEY|website=www.stanlaundon.com|accessdate=12 January 2020}}
Personal life
In 1989, Conn was convicted of a serious sexual assault on his 19-year-old receptionist and was sentenced to eight weeks in prison.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} In July 2014, he was arrested at Gatwick airport in connection with an alleged historic rape and sexual assault.[http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/news/11382303.Celebrity_music_mogul_Mervyn_Conn_arrested_in_connection_with_historic_rape_and_sexual_assault_allegations/ "Celebrity music mogul Mervyn Conn arrested in connection with historic rape and sexual assault allegations"],The Wimbledon Guardian, Friday 1 August 2014
In October 2016 Mervyn Conn, then 82, was convicted of historic offences of 2 rapes and 1 sexual assault, and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with a minimum of 7 years before parole can be considered
Memoirs
In 2010 Conn published an autobiography, Mr Music Man: My Life in Showbiz.
References
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Category:British music industry executives
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