Australian tour manager and prominent industry figure Aaron Chugg has passed away aged 53 after suffering a stroke last week.

The well-respected music industry veteran was working at the recent Future Music Festival, looking after British musical legends The Stone Roses, reports The Daily Telegraph. 

Chugg (no relation to promoter Michael Chugg) suffered a double stroke on his way to Melbourne Airport. He was then placed on life support but never regained consciousness and eventually passed away on Monday 18th March.

With a background as a sound engineer and front of house mixer, over his many years in the industry, Chugg had worked with many high profile Australian bands including tour managing the likes of Hoodoo Gurus, The Whitlams, Evermore, Alex Lloyd, and Shannon Noll.

He also had a background as a sound engineer and mixer, followed by a long-term position at Grant Thomas Management where he was associated with such bands as Crowded House, Split Enz, Rose Tattoo, Boom Crash Opera, The Church, and Rockmelons.

He was also the manager for the Screaming Jets during their heyday, and the Production Managers for the Olympic torch relay for the 2000 games in Sydney.

Outpourings for Chugg from musicians and industry figures began cropping up upon news of his passing. “RIP Aaron Chugg,” wrote Boom Crash Opera on their Facebook page, “Aaron was our Tour Manager for quite some time. We bonded with him and he taught us a lot! Sad news…”

Including Soundwave/Harvest Festival boss AJ Maddah:

Chugg’s good friend and client, singer Shannon Noll:

Phoebe Pinnock, singer, songwriter and frontwoman of hard rock act Heaven The Axe, first met Aaron Chugg while he was Tour Manager for Rose Tattoo, as she tells The Music. “He was a funny, quick witted guy who always had a lot of time for me and he was a shit hot mixer,” she says; further proving the fact by posting a tribute to her “big brother” on her Facebook page including a humorous correspondence from the Tour Manager of his updated CV.

Hoodoo Gurus frontman Dave Faulkner also paid homage to Chugg’s humour and professionalism through social media yesterday, writing on the band’s official Facebook page, Faulkner calls Chugg a “well-respected and well-loved tour manager (and genuinely nice bloke).”

Adding that Chugg, “worked as the Hoodoo Gurus’ tour manager for a number of years around the time of our Mach Schau album. He’d previously managed The Screaming Jets for a long time and at first he found us quite a handful – as we did him – but it wasn’t long before we all got to know each other and started to really enjoy working together.”

Faulkner fondly remembers Chugg as “definitely a smartarse!” who was “always cracking jokes… but it was hard to take offence because he ‘paid out’ on himself as much as anyone.”

“Although we’ve crossed paths quite a few times over the years since we stopped working together, we last saw Aaron in the Qantas Lounge at Perth Airport a few weeks ago,” saying that Chugg had been pleased with the Stone Roses shows that he was working on and invited the band to their Hordern Pavilion show, adding:

Unfortunately I already had another commitment that night so I couldn’t go,” writes Faulkner. “Even at that brief meeting in the airport lounge his passion for his job was still very apparent, which is a rare gift after going through the grind of touring rock ‘n’ roll for so many years. He remained dedicated heart and soul to music and got satisfaction out of being the man on the spot who could make things happen. Aaron, we need more people like you, not less, and we’ll all miss you.”

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