Ex-Van Halen Manager Noel E. Monk Has Reportedly Died
Former Van Halen manager and one-time Sex Pistols tour manager Noel E. Monk has died.
From 1979 through 1985, Monk served as the manager for the Pasadena, California group, and, in the year prior, he worked with Van Halen as their tour manager in 1978, the same year the group quickly began climbing the ladder of success on the back of their breakout self-titled debut album.
News of Monk's passing has lightly filtered through social media as friends and peers of Monk's have paid tribute to him and an active estate sale in Colorado Springs, where Noel was known to live in recent years, appears to indicate that the former band manager has indeed passed.
While it is often the case that the musicians are the biggest benefactors of public glory in regards to a band's success and many moves made by their managers behind the scenes, Monk made his name and achievements well known in the retrospective books he authored — Runnin' With the Devil and 12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America, which chronicled his experiences with Van Halen and Sex Pistols, respectively.
On Facebook, John Watkins — a Special FX director who lays claim to having once been consulted on pyrotechnic effects for Alex Van Halen — remembered Monk, whom he first met in the late '70s, warmly with some memories of their interactions in a tribute post.
"So sad to learn Van Halen’s former manager Noel Monk has passed away [editor's note: no exact date of Monk's death has been confirmed at this time]. We both got our start way back in the day working with Bill Graham. I didn’t really meet Noel until he was with the Sex Pistols and we had to drive Syd [Barrett] to the Haight Asbury Dree [sic] Medical Clinic in my friend’s car after the Winterland show. I met him a few more times during the early Van Halen days. I was consulted on pyro for Alex’s drums, and I held the pyro license for their California run on the 1984 tour," Watkins began.
He continued, "I didn’t really get to know him until I started writing my book. Noel had written his great book Runnin’ With The Devil about his time with the band and a mutual acquaintance put us together on Face Book [sic]. Noel was extremely patient and helpful often offering suggestions and encouragement. I had tremendous respect [for] Noel and he didn’t care I held Ed Leffler, the man who took over Van Halen’s management while he went with Dave, in such high regard. We never once wasted our time discussing which was the better version of Van Halen. I think the only time the subject was ever discussed was when one time I said, "Ed Leffler did an awesome job in a very difficult situation, Love Sammy or hate Sammy doesn’t matter, it could have gone really bad, really fast and Ed Leffler’s handling of the transition was nothing short of masterful.” Noel concurred showing what a class act he was.
Jeff Pezzuti, CEO of Eyellusion (the company behind the Ronnie James Dio hologram and other pioneering entertainment endeavors), also remembered Monk in a post touting the excellence of the Runnin' With the Devil book.
Loudwire expresses our condolences to the Monk family and all who knew Noel.