Former Van Halen Manager Noel E. Monk Passed Away

Former Van Halen manager and one-time Sex Pistols tour manager Noel E. Monk has passed away.

Monk served as the manager for Van Halen from 1979 through 1985 after working with the band as their tour manager in 1978, the same year the group quickly began reaching famed success with their breakout self-titled debut album.

The news of Monk’s passing came through as his friends paid tribute to him on social media. An active estate sale in Colorado Springs, where Noel was known to live in recent years, also confirmed that the former band manager has indeed passed.

Aside from being the band’s manager, Monk also made a name for himself and got achievements becoming an author. He wrote the book Runnin’ With the Devil and 12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America, which chronicled his experiences with Van Halen and Sex Pistols, respectively.

On Facebook, John Watkins, a Special FX director who lays claim to having once been consulted on pyrotechnic effects for Alex Van Halen, remembered Monk, whom he first met in the late ’70s, and wrote a tribute post which read:

“So sad to learn Van Halen’s former manager Noel Monk has passed away. We both got our start way back in the day working with Bill Graham. I didn’t really meet Noel until he was with the Sex Pistols and we had to drive Syd [Barrett] to the Haight Asbury Dree [sic] Medical Clinic in my friend’s car after the Winterland show. I met him a few more times during the early Van Halen days. I was consulted on pyro for Alex’s drums, and I held the pyro license for their California run on the 1984 tour.

“I didn’t really get to know him until I started writing my book. Noel had written his great book Runnin’ With The Devil about his time with the band and a mutual acquaintance put us together on Face Book [sic]. Noel was extremely patient and helpful often offering suggestions and encouragement. I had tremendous respect [for] Noel and he didn’t care I held Ed Leffler, the man who took over Van Halen’s management while he went with Dave, in such high regard. We never once wasted our time discussing which was the better version of Van Halen. I think the only time the subject was ever discussed was when one time I said, ‘Ed Leffler did an awesome job in a very difficult situation, Love Sammy or hate Sammy doesn’t matter, it could have gone really bad, really fast and Ed Leffler’s handling of the transition was nothing short of masterful.’ Noel concurred showing what a class act he was.”