Influential independent promoter Jon Stoll died Jan. 12 at Good Samaritan
Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., after extended health problems that included complications from a stroke and brain cancer. He was 54.
The New York native began staging concerts in his teens, moving to South Florida with his parents as a young man. His Fantasma Productions grew into one of the largest independent promoters in the country, surviving and thriving before, during and after the concert industry consolidation that changed the business at the turn of the century.
Fantasma promotes concerts throughout the country, particularly in the South, and books acts for such venues as the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton, and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. Stoll was a past president of the National Assn. of Concert Promoters and a frequent speaker at industry gatherings, including the Billboard Touring Conference. A savvy businessman and creative promoter, Stoll was an outspoken proponent of the value of independent promoters and the negative impact of high ticket prices and other industry ills.
“Jon Stoll was a believer,” says fellow independent promoter Arny Granat of Jam Productions in Chicago. “He was a man of conviction, vision and integrity. He had personality. He had soul.”
Survivors include his wife Lori, children Jesse, Lauren, L.J., Jack and Liana. Services are set for Wednesday at Temple Israel in West Palm Beach.
