Concert promoter Ken Rosene dead at 56

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

Promoter Ken Rosene died Tuesday at his Palolo home. He was 56.

Ken Rosene brought hundreds of musical stars to Hawai'i.

Audiences in Hawai'i owe Rosene a debt of gratitude, friends said yesterday, for performances by musicians including Aerosmith, Sting, Tina Turner, Al Jarreau, George Benson, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Cocker, Willie Nelson, Huey Lewis, Michael Franks, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Everly Brothers, Rod Stewart, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others.

Born and raised in Southern California, Rosene considered Hawai'i a paradise, and made it his own in the 1970s as a handsome, bearded, long-haired enthusiast whose Advertiser column was titled "Headlines."

Rosene became one of the main promoters in the Islands, and found himself catering to the champagne and caviar tastes of his sometimes temperamental charges.

"He would roll out the red carpet for them, have people at the airport to greet them with leis, put things in their hotel rooms," said Nella Courtney, a longtime associate.

Rosene had a gift for spotting talent early, and mastered the task of selling Hawai'i to the acts that came here, and selling the acts to Hawai'i, she said.

His concert by The Police at Aloha Stadium in 1984 set an attendance record of 31,653.

He invented The Rockatorium, a warehouse-like half-acre space at Aloha Tower, and collaborated in Coconut Grove, an Ala Moana Boulevard rock 'n' roll club.

Rosene learned some of his trade from Tom Moffatt, for whom he worked in some of the Sunshine Festivals, and who remembered him fondly yesterday as "a friendly competitor."

Rosene did a big Maui show in January, "Voices Rock the Beach," which VH1 taped. He had hoped to do another concert of the same kind next year.

Rosene is survived by brothers, Dennis and Gary; and mother, Stella, all of California; and his girlfriend, Kathleen Gray.

Plans are pending for memorial services.