Lang was 77
Woodstock co-founder Michael Lang has died at the age of 77. The concert promoter behind the 1969 influential rock festival died Saturday (Jan 8th) of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his rep Michael Pagnotta confirms.
In August 1969, approximately 500,000 people gathered for the Woodstock Festival in the small farming community of Bethel, NY. Woodstock was the most famous rock festival in history and a dramatic expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960’s. Promoted as “Three Days of Peace and Music,” the Woodstock festival came to symbolize a generation.
Music business promoters and entrepreneurs — Lang, Rosenman, Artie Kornfeld, and John Roberts — met and discussed the idea for a unique music festival in January 1969. To bring it about, they formed a company, Woodstock Ventures. The four producers promoted the festival as a weekend gathering of the younger generation away from the hassles of everyday life. Previous large concerts had typically attracted, on the high side, an audience of tens of thousands. But for their one-of-a-kind Woodstock festival, the promoters hoped to draw 50,000 people and, as a precaution, drew up plans to accommodate up to 100,000. For the audience, it was going to be three days away from civilization, which meant the promoters would have to provide campsites, food, toilets, medical care, security and other necessities for living together for the entire weekend.
The festival featured more than 30 performers, an unprecedented assembly of musical talent. Some, such as Joan Baez; The Band; The Grateful Dead; The Who; and Blood, Sweat & Tears, were already well known. Others, including folk singer and acoustic guitarist Richie Havens, guitarist Carlos Santana, and British singer Joe Cocker essentially made their national debuts. Jimi Hendrix performed an electrifying rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that became legendary.
The group followed with Woodstock ’94 and Woodstock ’99. In 2019, they had planned Woodstock 50, in celebration of the original festival’s 50th anniversary, but was canceled due to financial constraints and artists pulling out of performing.
The same summer saw the film, Creating Woodstock, released. The feature length documentary details the trials and tribulations the founders of the original “Three Days of Peace and Music” festival faced as they put together the most impactful music event ever.
