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Donald Tarlton with Andy Gibb in the 1970s. Montreal Gazette files<\/p>\nImpresario nonpareil Donald K. Donald died Monday, a month before his 83rd\u00a0birthday. But his legacy will last eons among music fans of a bygone era.<\/p>\n
DKD \u2014 n\u00e9 Donald Tarlton \u2014 had been in ill health the last few years, suffering from the effects of Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
Tarlton was an indomitable figure on the local music scene. In a city of characters, there have truly been very few like him. The DKD mould has long gone missing.<\/p>\n
During his heyday in the 1980s and \u201890s, he brought all the biggies to town \u2014 the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, AC\/DC et al. But he always had an eye out for local talent. He produced C\u00e9line Dion shows. He was a mentor to April Wine and Corey Hart and signed them up to his Aquarius Records label.<\/p>\n
While he booked tours across the country, his home and his heart was always in Montreal. There was no prouder citizen than Tarlton, always extolling the virtues of the city to rock \u2018n\u2019 roll royalty and commoners alike.<\/p>\n
He brought the ebullience and enthusiasm of a circus carny to the job. No matter the venue, he was out there walking the floors, checking out the crowd with an ear-to-ear grin. And no matter the concert, he would call local media to pronounce what would become his mantra: \u201cLots of good tickets still available.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different world today. The largely faceless mega-corps run the biz now.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the main reasons that I opted out of concerts for records is that it\u2019s no longer about relationships \u2014 it\u2019s all big conglomerates running the concerts now,\u201d Tarlton told me in an interview over two decades back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality of business today, whether it\u2019s sports or music, is that prices have been driven up by\u00a0greed\u00a0and by the excessive competition for the right to present the star. And the\u00a0victim\u00a0is John Q. Public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Music was in his blood from the get-go. A Rosemere High School and Sir George Williams University grad, he spent his off-hours as a young hustler, organizing dances at youth clubs.<\/p>\n
His big break came in 1972. The Rolling Stones had been slated to play the venerable Montreal Forum. Fate, however, intervened when the group\u2019s speakers were destroyed in a bombing 24 hours before the show. Tarlton somehow managed to bring in replacements from Los Angeles and the show went on.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, Tarlton went on to become a producer for the Stones\u2019 Canadian shows for decades. And he never looked back.<\/p>\n
Donald Tarlton with Andy Gibb in the 1970s. Montreal Gazette files<\/p>\n
Give DKD a little wiggle room and there was no stopping him.<\/p>\n
In the \u201980s, he took on Broadway, producing a series of shows including the Tony-nominated musical Black and Blue.<\/p>\n
He took as much satisfaction in being named a member of the Order of Canada in 2000.<\/p>\n
Apart from his wife, known to many as Annie K. Annie, there were few closer to Tarlton than Sylvie Brunetta, his director of marketing and PR from 1984 to 1998.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just couldn\u2019t sleep after getting the news Monday night,\u201d Brunetta says. \u201cAll the memories just kept flooding back. We did about 600 shows a year back then. Those were the heydays of stadium shows with Pink Floyd and Madonna. Donald was also committed to bringing these shows to the Maritimes. Only Donald could convince Tina Turner to open her world tour in St. John\u2019s and bring Bon Jovi to Halifax. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut nothing beat his commitment to Montreal. There were few Montrealers more in love with the city than him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tarlton was akin to the patriarch of the Brunetta family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught me and my sisters everything we know about this business. He gave us all our starts and we managed to move on to some success as a result,\u201d says Brunetta, noting that her sister Ghislaine moved to Vegas to work with Dion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just priceless to have a teacher like him, who was so thrilled to see us evolve. I don\u2019t think my path will ever cross with a man like him again. I\u2019ll be forever grateful for having him come into my life. Those were the days.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Promoter](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0415-brownstein-u2.jpg\")
Donald Tarlton in front of the stage setup for U2\u2019s concert in Moncton, N.B., in July 2011, the final date of the band\u2019s 360\u00b0 Tour. \u201cOnly Donald could convince Tina Turner to open her world tour in St. John\u2019s and bring Bon Jovi to Halifax,\u201d says longtime colleague and friend Sylvie Brunetta. Ron Ward \/ Postmedia files<\/p>\n
Brunetta stayed in the business with her marketing company Brunetta Etc. for 20 years and then closed her career two years ago after working with Live Nation Global Touring.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, there were some dark days, like the Guns N\u2019 Roses and Metallica concert riot<\/a> in 1992 at the Big O,\u201d she says, referring to a double bill where Metallica\u2019s set was cut short when singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics, and then fans rioted after Guns N\u2019 Roses also left the stage early. \u201cThat just devastated Donald, but he had so many more good days for which he will always be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n Local promoter Rubin Fogel knew Tarlton well. They were competitors on some levels, but they were also friends and golf buddies.<\/p>\n
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Donald Tarlton receives a lifetime achievement award at the Junos in 2007. Richard Marjan \/ Postmedia files<\/p>\n