LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Eric Gardner, the industry veteran, artist manager, and founder/CEO of Panacea Entertainment, died on July 19th at his home near Los Angeles. He was 74.
His passing was commented on by his longtime client, bandleader Paul Shaffer who took to social media to share: “I lost a dear friend. My long-time manager, Eric Gardner, passed away at his home outside of Los Angeles. He has represented me since 1990, and was everything one might have hoped his manager would be- smart, beautifully spoken, could represent me in any area in which I wanted to dabble, his counsel always wise and true.”
Gardner founded Panacea Entertainment in 1970 while he was still a graduate student at Columbia University, coordinating tours for clients such as Jefferson Airplane and Kiss.
“Back then there wasn’t personal management,” Gardner said. “In rock ‘n’ roll, it was your next-door neighbor, your friend’s brother or drug dealer. That worked in my favor. When I got into it, nobody could contradict me that I was doing something wrong,” Gardner told NCOPM’s Clinton Billups during a 2018 interview.
In 1974, the company transitioned to artist management, developing a client roster that included the likes of Bill Wyman, Timothy Leary, Todd Rundgren, The Stray Cats, Jefferson Starship, Blue Oyster Cult, and Bettye LaVette, among others.
In the 1980s, Panacea relocated from New York to Los Angeles and expanded its scope to include film and television after signing television personality Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Gardner was inducted into the Personal Manager’s Hall of Fame in 2017.
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