Big Day Out founder Ken West has died at 64

Tributes are pouring in for Big Day Out founder Ken West after the colourful music promoter was found dead, aged just 64.

Australia’s music industry has been rocked again by the sudden death of Big Day Out founder Ken West.

The colourful music promoter died “peacefully in his sleep” at his Central Coast home yesterday aged 64.

“We bring unfortunate news that, Ken West; a father, husband, mentor and most of all a legend, has passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of the 7th April 2022,” his family said in a statement.

“Our family would appreciate respect and privacy during this difficult time. Ken was big and noisy in life, but passed quietly and peacefully.”

Ken West helped usher in a new era of travelling music festivals. Picture: Supplied

West cut his teeth in the 80s as a promoter, touring local bands including Nick Cave and the Birthday Party and The Church and bringing in The Ramones and Deborah Harry.

With Australia in the economic doldrums in the early 1990s, West could feel the music winds changing as disenfranchised youth found grunge and techno to soundtrack their frustrations.

He devised the Big Day Out to bring the musical tribes together but would have a profound influence shaping both the festival scene but signposting the next big things to hit radio airwaves with the curation of his line-ups. Whether the world’s biggest stars, from Neil Young, Metallica and Kanye West or the fledgling days of The Killers or Foo Fighters, West mostly got it presciently right when pulling the bill together.

Sorry to hear of the sudden death of Ken West, founder of the Australian touring festival the Big Day Out. Ken made the whole thing like a party for punters and artists alike. UK bands called it the Big Day Off. Lots of fun memories hanging with Ken and the BDO crew. So long mate

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) April 7, 2022

The festival ran from 1992 until its final year in 2014; West bowed out just before its last hurrah.

“The Big Day Out provided me with the greatest job in the world,” West wrote in a slice of the memoir he was working on.

West, right, planned to release his memoir later this year. Picture: Supplied

The Superjesus said they were forever grateful for the “monumental” role West played in establishing the band’s career.

“He gave us a chance when we were so young and put us on the Big Day out when we had only performed two live shows prior,” the band wrote in a Facebook tribute.

“The big day out was the biggest festival in the world for a while there... and by god did we have fun. We got to mix with all the massive American bands like they were our mates.”

British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg also paid tribute to West.

“Ken made the whole thing like a party for punters and artists alike,” he said, on Twitter.

“UK bands called it the Big Day Off.

“Lots of fun memories hanging with Ken and the BDO crew.”

West’s pioneering vision for the Big Day Out with business partner Vivian Lees helped usher in a new era of travelling music festivals and create superstars throughout the 90s and early 2000s from the emerging grunge, alternative rock and electronic scenes.

Legendary Big Day Out founder Ken West has died. Picture: Supplied

Rising Australian bands including Silverchair, Powderfinger, You Am I and The Living End shared stages alongside Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bjork.

But West’s dream of uniting the musical tribes boldly extended to introducing the Boiler Room as dance and electronic music began its ascent to its now dominance of contemporary music.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Big Day Out’s creation in 1992 – which famously featured Nirvana before they blew up with Smells Like Teen Spirit – West shared chapters from his memoir in January.

Tentatively titled KenFest – which was also the original placeholder name for the Big Day Out – the work in progress captivated thousands in the industry who had worked with the festival over the years and its legions of fans.

Big Day Out founders Vivian Lees (left) and Ken West. Picture: Supplied

He revealed the behinds-the-scenes stories of how sick Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was during that tour and Kylie Minogue’s shock inclusion on the 1996 bill when Cave invited her on stage to perform their duet Where The Wild Roses Grow.

“The funny thing with Kylie on the road was that for us it was no big deal,” he wrote.

“She was a pretty suburban girl from Melbourne, had gone out with friends Mark Gerber then Michael Hutchence, and seemed to like the dark side. Nick, on the other hand, actually was the dark side..,” West writes.

“She only performed on four shows and only sang one song but to the global media, it was a huge deal.”

West also gave a unique insight into just how big that first Big Day Out at the Sydney Showgrounds in 1992 was, even though it only hosted 9700 fans who each paid $42 for their ticket.

Kurt Cobain performing at the Big Day Out in 1992. Nirvana were the biggest band in the world at the time. Picture: Supplied

“Soon after selling out I also got a call from the office of then Prime Minister Paul Keating to purchase three tickets for his kids. When I offered to just send some, my offer was politely rejected as free tickets can be considered corruption,” West shares.

“We then arranged tickets to be purchased from the Canberra outlet. Simpler times.”

West was a gregarious host backstage at the Big Day Out in between talking incessantly on his walkie talkie.

The creative promoter was renowned for his loud shirts, often Mambo brand, and his rambling, entertaining monologues to assembled media at his annual backstage press conference at the Sydney event.

He planned to release his memoir later this year to coincide with a Big Day Out art exhibition.

Ken is survived by his wife Cathy, son Oliver and his many comrades, collaborators and friends he made along the way.

Originally published as Big Day Out founder Ken West has died at 64