LOS ANGELES, May 25 (UPI) -- Rock promoter Ian Copeland, considered the father of new wave music, has died in Los Angeles at age 57.
The brother of the Police drummer Stewart Copeland and IRS record label founder Miles Copeland died Tuesday of melanoma, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Among the many bands Copeland is credited with helping rise to fame were R.E.M., the Bangles, the Go-Gos, Squeeze, Nine Inch Nails, the B-52's, the Ramones, the Cure, the Smiths, the Dead Kennedys and the Police.
Copeland spent his final years running the Backstage Cafe in Beverly Hills, Calif., but the Syrian-born son of a CIA agent was hailed in music circles for his ability as a star-maker.
In the early 1970s, while working as a booking agent in London, he "discovered" the Average White Band, which went on to score a string of international hits such as "Pick up the Pieces."
Moving across the pond, he worked at the Paragon Agency, scheduling tours for the Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band.
After Paragon closed, he started Frontier Booking International, or FBI, and funneled acts such as R.E.M., the Go-Gos and the Bangles to IRS records. He and brother Miles became known as the music industry's "law enforcement clan."
Copeland's agency merged with InterTalent in 1992, which closed three years later, the Times said.
In addition to his brothers, Copeland is survived by two daughters, his mother and a sister.
