Prominent artist manager Michael Lippman, who helped guide the careers of Matchbox Twenty and Rob Thomas, George Michael and Elton John’s writing partner Bernie Taupin, died at his home on Monday, Rolling Stone can confirm. He was 79 years old.
Family gathered at Lippman’s longtime residence in Santa Ynez, Calif., including his wife of 57 years, Nancy, and two sons, Nick and Josh, to say goodbye on Dec. 29. A cause of death has not been revealed.
“Dad was a relentless advocate for his clients, his friends, and his family,” said Josh Lippman. “He was the person you wanted in your corner in any situation. He transitioned from bulldog to effortless charmer on a dime, often multiple times in a conversation, and never met a challenge he couldn’t solve.”
Added Nick Lippman: “Michael was my mentor and the greatest teacher. For over twenty years, we traveled the world and shared a bond that grew deeper with time. We spoke every day and often finished each other’s sentences. Our relationship was shaped by the work we did side by side, and a bond of love, trust, and mutual respect.”
A towering figure in the music industry, Lippman’s credits include representing David Bowie in the Seventies during the artist’s Ziggy Stardust era, Melissa Manchester in the Eighties, George Michael from his post-Wham! launch as a solo artist until his 2016 death, and Matchbox Twenty (along with frontman Rob Thomas), for the entirety of their career.
Lippman started his career working for legendary lawyer Marvin Mitchelson, a position that would lead to a role in the soundtracks department at Columbia Pictures. He later ran west coast operations for Arista Records in the mid-Seventies, working under mentor Clive Davis.
Lippman’s fruitful relationship with Bowie began around the same time. The two worked together on the 1976 sci-fi film The Man Who Fell to Earth and shared in several milestones, including Bowie’s performance on Soul Train and a Number One single with 1975’s “Fame.” They remained friends, with Lippman describing Bowie as “incredible to talk to. He taught me a lot about fashion, art and photography. All I wanted to do was learn from and help him.”
Lippman was instrumental in Melissa Manchester’s history-making turn at the 1980 Oscars, when she was nominated for two best original songs — “Through the Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles and “I’ll Never Say Goodbye” from The Promise. At Lippman’s insistence, Oscars producers allowed her to perform both on the telecast.
The next two decades were Lippman’s busiest as a manager as George Michael took center stage. After “falling in love” with George Michael’s 1987 breakout album, Faith, Lippman was determined to “to make him the biggest thing in the world,” he said in 2016. “And that’s how it turned out.” (George Michael would die on Christmas day that year.)
Even when Michael wasn’t touring or recording, Lippman’s hands were full with sync requests (just this year, “Father Figure” would make its way onto Taylor Swift’s Life of a Showgirl) as the appetite for his music never waned.
With his firm growing, Lippman began taking on producers and songwriters as clients, including Elton John’s writing partner Bernie Taupin, who lived on a neighboring property in Santa Ynez. Known as an innovator in negotiating entertainment contracts, Lippman did just that for Matchbox Twenty, an act that spent decades at Atlantic Records. Both the group and lead singer and songwriter Rob Thomas notched multiple Number One hits, including “Smooth,” Thomas’ end-of-the-century smash that, with Lippman’s help, paired Thomas with Carlos Santana. (Thomas left Atlantic earlier this year for Universal.)
The music industry was a family business for Lippman, whose late younger brother Terry worked alongside him for many years.
As Lippman’s own career advanced, he developed a reputation for being intimidating — beyond his hefty 6’1” build. In fact, it was an air Lippman confessed to cultivating, telling Billboard in 2016, “You’re fighting 10 other managers. I want more time, attention and money spent on my artists than the nine other guys. So I created this persona that people respected and slightly feared and hopefully, if things went the right way, I got what I wanted.”
For the last two decades, Lippman and his son Nick have partnered on management clients and other businesses under the banner Lippman Entertainment. In 2016, Lippman told Billboard, “I believe I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have been able to work with my two sons and my brother in the same business.” Though he conceded, “At the same time, I wasn’t the greatest father because I was always on the road.”
Lippman looked to Clive Davis as an example. “I never saw a man work that hard and that long every day,” said Lippman. “He’d be in the office until nine or 10 o’clock and then would have dinner. He inspired me to put in the time.”
Still, a time was had by Lippman, who, along with his wife Nancy, was known to entertain the likes of Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, Quincy Jones, Dick Clark, Little Richard, George Harrison, and Tom Petty, at parties they hosted.
A passionate lover of horses, Lippman’s Santa Barbara County ranch was home to several champion breeds. He rode as often as possible. He is survived by his wife Nancy; sons Josh and Nick; daughter-in-law Lauren; granddaughters Olivia and Jordan; and grandsons Zachary and Tucker.
