MILL VALLEY, CA — Benny Collins, production and tour manager and 2014 recipient of the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, died Jan. 27. He was 68. The long list of acts and artists he worked with include Journey, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Lionel Richie and U2.
Other highlights in his distinguished career including taking the band, Wham!, to communist China and being at the helm of Michael Jackson’s audacious Eastern European tour during the height of the King of Pop’s career. Most recently Collins had been serving as the production manager for Weezer.
When speaking about Collins for a 2014 article that ran in PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE magazines, fellow production manager and 2012 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award recipient Charlie Hernandez described Collins as “one of the most honest, most ethical people I know.
“I was a young kid when I first met Benny,” Hernandez continued. “He was always large and in charge; I could see then he was a groundbreaker. There weren’t a lot of African Americans in the business back then, but Benny rose to the top quickly because he always told the truth and he really cared. He went out of his way to be fair to everybody, and earned everyone’s trust and loyalty.”
Collins was born in Oakland, CA and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Born to a single mother just 16 years old, he was brought up by his grandmother and an aunt, who later adopted him as her own son.
He began his production career as a roadie for Larry Graham’s Graham Central Station, and then started working for Bill Graham. In 1979, he became a drum tech for Journey, and quickly moved up to stage manager and then production manager.
In 1985, he worked on Bowie’s complicated Glass Spider tour. Michael Jackson kept him busy in the 1990s, where he said it was a thrill to meet “every star I ever dreamed of. I was sitting on a case on the side of the stage, as I always did for the first two songs, because if you got through the first two songs, you knew you weren’t going to have trouble. While sitting there, Michael’s security came up and asked if two people could sit with me. I look up and I see Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren and I say, ‘Sure! No problem!’”
On Jackson, Collins recalled, “it was my job to tell him we were 20 minutes away from show time, and he’d go warm himself up. During that time, I’d see this five-foot-nine person suddenly [seem to] grow into something 10 feet tall. You could see the switch click from person to performer, and then click off again when he walked off the stage.”
Collins is survived by his wife of 40 years, Audrey; daughters Saundra and Sharon; and his grandchildren.
For the 2014 article in PLSN that profiled Benny Collins’ career achievements, go to http://plsn.com/wp/current-issue/79-features/14744
MEMORIAL SERVICE ANNOUNCED
Benny Collins’ friends have announced plans for a memorial service, “A Celebration of a Life Well Lived,” honoring Benjamin Leon “Benny” Collins. The event is set for Saturday, April 1, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Fox Theater Oakland, 1807 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, CA. 94612
For tickets and to RSVP please go to:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebration-of-life-benny-collins-tickets-8625403815
The organizers of this event would like to thank Another Planet Entertainment.
