Steve O'Rourke
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Steve O'Rourke (
1 October 1940 – 30 October 2003) was an EnglishLife and Pink Floyd manager
O'Rourke's father, Tommy O'Rourke, was a fisherman on the
O'Rourke trained as an accountant and went to work with the Bryan Morrison Agency, which became a part of
O'Rourke suffered a stroke and died in Miami, Florida, in 2003. His funeral service was held on 14 November 2003 at Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England, where, as a tribute, Pink Floyd members David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason performed together in public for the first time since October 1994. They played "Fat Old Sun" and "The Great Gig in the Sky", with Dick Parry playing the saxophone as he followed the coffin.
David Gilmour's 2006 solo album On an Island was dedicated to O'Rourke's memory (as well as memories of tour manager Tony Howard and arranger/orchestrator Michael Kamen). Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd was also dedicated to O'Rourke.
Racing career
O'Rourke also built a highly successful parallel career as an enthusiastic gentleman racing driver – a lifelong passion which he shared with the Floyd's drummer
His ambition to compete at the
In 1981 he founded
In 1982 he contested two rounds of the British Formula One Championship.
His team later became supported by
In 1991 he and
In 1991 he resurrected EMKA Racing and begin varied participation in the British GT Championship, BPR Global GT Series and FIA GT Championship. He earned the British GT GT2 class drivers championship with co-driver Tim Sugden in 1997, then again in the GT1 class in 1998. However O'Rourke's greatest racing success came while co-driving a McLaren F1 GTR at Le Mans with Tim Sugden and Bill Auberlen to finish fourth overall. Having saved money by refusing the costly update pack for the McLaren, O'Rourke typically spent as much again on a huge party for all concerned in the EMKA team's success.
From 2000 O'Rourke concentrated on the
O'Rourke's death soon after the end of the 2003 season led to the shutdown of EMKA Racing.
Other artists
Other artists managed by O'Rourke include:
- Chris Thomas, record producer
- Kokomo, band[2]
- Heath Lefke, production manager
References
- ^ a b c d "Steve O'Rourke obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 5 November 2003. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- ^ Williams, Richard (19 December 2013). "The Groove Abides". The Blue Moment. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
External links
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