The Great Escape remembers Steve Strange with annual award

Steve Strange, the late booking agent and founding partner of U.K.-based X-Ray Touring, will be remembered with a special award bearing his name.

The Steve Strange Award will be presented at each year at The Great Escape festival in Brighton, England, in recognition of a “music act that is breaking through creative boundaries” in the music industry, reads a statement from organisers.

The winner, selected by the thousands of industry delegates that attend the event every year, will also take home a cash prize of £5,000 ($9,500).

“Steve Strange has a long history with The Great Escape and championed hundreds of artists over the years,” comments Rory Bett, CEO at Mama Group.

“It is a great honour for us to launch this award for creativity in his name, so that he can continue to influence the industry he loved”.

The inaugural Steve Strange Award recipient will be announced after the 2022 edition of The Great Escape Festival, running May 11-14.

Introducing the launch of The Steve Strange Award, in honour of the late live agent and co-founder of X-Ray Touring.

Find out more here > https://t.co/aXFoMYCQGe pic.twitter.com/tsKgNZ8b7D

— The Great Escape (@thegreatescape) February 10, 2022

“Steve was a huge supporter of The Great Escape and would be deeply honoured by this award being launched in his name,” comments Josh Javor, agent at X-Ray Touring.

“He was first and foremost a passionate music fan and creativity was at the heart of his business. We are delighted his name will live on through this award and inspire many artists into lifelong careers in the industry Steve loved so much”.

Strange, an effervescent, larger-than-life character who was much-loved by the many artists he represented, which included Eminem, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Chance the Rapper, Queens of the Stone Age, died last September following a brief illness. He was 53.

Following his passing, Coldplay paid tribute to the Northern Irishman as “a giant of the music industry and the cornerstone for so many bands’ and artists’ careers, including ours,” while Ed Sheeran remarked that his passing was a “huge loss.”

Earlier this week, Strange posthumously won International Booking Agent of the Year at the annual Pollstar Awards in Los Angeles.

In other TGE news, organisers have unveiled the first 20 speakers for the 2022 conference at the Jury’s Inn Brighton.

The lineup includes Olivia Hobbs, Founder & Director, Blackstar Agency; Paul Sampson, Co-Founder & CEO, Lickd; Pete Kelly, Head Of Music, BT Sport and many others.

A handful of Aussie acts will showcase to the industry at this year’s festival, including Budjerah, Grace Cummings, High School, Little Quirks and The Vanns.

Budjerah

Established in 2006, The Great Escape has cemented its place as the U.K.’s leading showcase event, some 80kms down the M23 from London.

Since launch, the likes of Angus & Julia Stone, Bag Raiders, Confidence Man, Courtney Barnett, Cub Sport, DMA’S, Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays, Emma Louise, Gang Of Youths and many more have won fans at the annual fest.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.