Michael Chugg

Michael Glenn Chugg (born 15 June 1947) is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman and concert tour promoter. As a promoter and manager he was a founder of Frontier Touring Company (1979–99) and Michael Chugg Entertainment (2000–present). In June 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2010, he co-authored his autobiography, Hey, You in the Black T-Shirt: The Real Story of Touring the World's Biggest Acts, with journalist Iain Shedden. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019 Chugg received the ARIA Industry Icon Award.

Early life and education Michael Glenn Chugg was born on 15 June 1947 in Launceston to Victor and Lorna (née Hancock) Chugg, the eldest of four children. His grandmother, Ella Chugg, was his "best friend". He credits his great-grandfather with his idiosyncratic use of profanity "the first thing he did was taught me to swear. And it's always been a major part of my delivery of things".

He attended Glen Dhu Primary School in South Launceston and then Queechy High School in Norwood. when at 16 he organised a dance at the Trades Hall in Launceston for the local cycling club. About 300 people turned up for a profit of £80. He was an amateur cyclist, he volunteered to be a track announcer and then became a sports broadcaster for horse races, trotting, greyhounds and football. and arranged performances of visiting mainland acts, including Bobby and Laurie and The Easybeats. At AMBO he met a 16-yr old, Michael Gudinski, whom Chugg described as "this young guy there with red hair and a big nose who was booking all these new bands", they became friends, business associates and sometime rivals. and Kevin Borich.

In 1978 or 79, [Borich] took me to the Lyceum in London to see a new band – The Police. I was blown away, and back in Australia, I suggested we tour all these new U.K. acts that Dainty didn't want to know. At the same time, Gudinski came back from the U.K. He had signed the publishing of 90 percent of the punk explosion and we decided to start a touring company. We borrowed Ian Copeland's name, Frontier, and The Frontier Touring Company was born. Our first two tours were Ian's flagship acts – Squeeze and The Police.|Michael Chugg The 1980 winner, Little Heroes, was one of three bands representing Victoria with three others from New South Wales, and three more from Queensland – other states were not represented. and The Sunnyboys. In January 1983 Chugg, with other concert promoters, staged the first Narara Music Festival, which was attended by over 30,000 people and grossed over $1.5 million.

In 1999, Chugg left Frontier Touring Company after 20 years with the organisation, and founded Michael Chugg Entertainment (MCE) the following year. He later recalled:

I think the last couple of years, the company was losing focus on what was going on. I felt we weren't keeping up with technology. Also, I felt we weren't doing enough with young acts and building a client base like we had done back in the early '80s with acts like The Police, Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, and we weren't really getting on top of the new breed of acts. I was getting frustrated with that and thought I'd like to give it a try on my own.|Michael Chugg "Episode 3: Billy Killed the Fish", was broadcast on 29 August 2001, and featured interviews with Chugg, Thorpe and Lobby Loyde. Performances at two Sydney concerts in September were recorded, broadcast on ABC-TV and subsequently released on DVD in December.

In December 2004, Chugg together with Daryl Herbert and Glenn Wheatley purchased a 50% share of the company running the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival, an annual music festival held over the Easter long weekend at Byron Bay.

In 2006, Chugg Entertainment, in conjunction with Backrow Productions, expanded into musical theatre producing the musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which debuted at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney in October that year. That year also saw Chugg Entertainment partner with the organisers of the Laneway Festival expanding the event to Sydney. The Laneway Festival has subsequently expanded to include events in Brisbane (2007), Adelaide (2008), Perth (2009), Auckland (2010), Singapore (2011) and Detroit (2013).

In September 2012, Chugg Entertainment entered into a partnership with the promoters of the Homebake musical festival, held at the Domain every December. The 2013 event however was cancelled following poor ticket sales after the festival was forced to relocate to the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

In 2012, he launched Chugg Music, his own record label, signing Australian bands, The Griswolds, Deep Sea Arcade, Sheppard, Major Leagues, Casey Barnes, Lime Cordiale and New Zealand outfit Avalanche City. On 25 February 2014 Chugg expanded the label into the US.

Chugg was a co-organiser of WaveAid, held on 29 January 2005, to support victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. John Watson of Eleven Music recalled "Mark Pope, convinced us that we needed [Chugg's] help ... we were all very hesitant because Michael was really from a different generation and, let's face it, he had a reputation. Within hours [he] had sorted the SCG as the venue by means that do not bear repeating here and we all realised we'd completely underestimated him. It would never have happened without [him]. He'd be the first to admit he's no saint but the amount he's done for charity over the years is truly staggering".

In November 2005, Chugg was the patron of Amplified, a presentation for industry leaders and fans of Tasmanian musicians.

Live Earth's Sydney concert on 7 July 2007 was promoted by MCE, with Chugg also a presenter – it was billed as a "climate change awareness" concert.

In 2009, Chugg and Gudinski, were the co-organizers of Sound Relief, a multi-venue rock music concert held simultaneously in Melbourne and Sydney to raise funds for those affected by the February 2009 Victorian bushfires. The event raised over $8 million (AUS) for Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal and The Premier's Disaster Relief Fund Appeal in Queensland.

In August 2023, Gordi was appointed as one of eight members of the newly-formed Music Australia Council, a division of Creative Australia (formerly Australia Council for the Arts).

Personal life In 1970, Chugg married Liselotte "Lilo" Reisner,

In March 2014, on the 50th anniversary of his start as a promoter, Denis Handlin (CEO of Sony Music Australia) opined "Chuggy is noisy, wild, cantankerous, the oldest teenager I know and very often a nightmare to deal with. But somehow we all love him because he lives and sweats the business with 100 per cent persistence and passion". He received the award on the same day that he filed for divorce from his second wife. 2009, and 2010).

On 8 June 1998, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia with a citation "for service to music and the performing arts, particularly in relation to the promotion of Australian artists and to fundraising for youth and children's charities".

In 2008, he received an Arthur Award for 'Outstanding Contribution to Live Music' at the 20th International Live Music Conference.

In 2011, he received "The Immortal" award (a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to popular culture) at the 2nd Annual Rolling Stone Awards in Sydney. In 2013 he was nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2013.