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The Music Managers Forum (MMF) has paid tribute to John Glover, who has died aged 81.  

Glover was a founding member of the MMF, served as a board member and chair over two periods (between 1995 to 2004) and remained active as one of its custodians. 

Starting his career at Island Artists in the early 1970s, Glover worked with the likes of Free, Mott The Hoople, Jim Capaldi and Paul Kossoff. His company, Blueprint Management, now overseen by his son Matt, went on to represent Go West, ABC, Alison Limerick, Tony Hadley and many others. 

“John was widely recognised within the management community for his advocacy – both for artists and other managers – and, alongside Alan McGee, was instrumental in helping develop the Labour government’s New Deal for Musicians, which enabled unemployed artists aged 18-24 to opt out of Welfare to Work schemes and access instruments and studio time,” said the MMF.  

Under his Chairmanship, Glover established the British Music Roll of Honour in 1995, the precursor to the Artist & Manager Awards. 

His own contribution to music management was recognised at the inaugural Artist & Manager Awards in 2011, when he received the Peter Grant Award for lifetime achievement.  

MMF figures have paid tribute to John Glover.

Tim Clark, MMF Custodian 
“I was fortunate to meet John Glover in the heady days of the ’60s, when Island as a label, agency and management company, was flying the flag for independent music companies. He was a stellar part of Island’s success and never lost its ethos of putting artists first as he went on to run his own successful management company. He was a true gentleman.”

Paul Craig, Nostromo Management, MMF chair 
“That’s immensely sad about John. Lovely man, legendary manager and supported the best football team. Condolences to his family.”

We shall miss him deeply and are very thankful for his contribution to the MMF and the wider management community

Annabella Coldrick

Diane Wagg, Deluxxe Management and former MMF chair
“I’m so sad to know that we’ve lost one of the music industry’s true gents. John was a fabulous and much loved manager for his artists and a joy to know. A co-founder, long-term supporter and custodian of the MMF, his experience was invaluable and always openly shared. Personally, I’ll miss his kindness, humour and love of a good old chat as well as knowing I can pick up the phone any day for advice. It was an honour to know John and I send my heartfelt sympathies to Matt, his family and friends.”

Stephen Budd, Record Producers, former MMF chair
“He was so helpful to me personally several times, especially when I had a terrible personal tragedy. We often went to the football together and as both life-long Arsenal fans celebrated some very significant moments. His contribution to co-founding the MMF is of course inestimable. Such a gentleman and a truly wonderful human being who I loved dearly. He will be sorely missed.”

Professor Jonathan Shalit OBE, chairman – Chosen Music / InterTalent Group
“My memories of John Glover will always be filled with deep fondness. He was a tremendous mentor early in my career, generously sharing wisdom that I still call upon to this day. John’s philanthropy and kindness in supporting others matched his professional brilliance. He will be remembered not only for his extraordinary achievements and successes, but also for the way he gave back so selflessly to our great industry.”

Gary McClarnan, Sparklestreet, MMF custodian
“A great man.  I learned a lot from John’s generous guidance.  Will miss his charm and wit.”

Jackie Davidson MBE, MMF custodian
“Extremely sad news to hear of the passing of John Glover. A great man and manager.”

Merck Mecuriadis, MMF custodian
“Godspeed John Glover and family!”

Annabella Coldrick, MMF chief executive
“I first met John when I joined the MMF nearly 10 years ago on what was then our advisory board comprised of former chairs and board directors of the MMF.  He was such a kind and generous man with the most amazing stories from the music industry that I got to hear over a series of long lunches. He stayed involved in the MMF his whole career and was still offering us support and guidance through the Custodians Council even this year when he was ill. We shall miss him deeply and are very thankful for his contribution to the MMF and the wider management community.”

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You seem to have a predilection to play real-life characters who die prematurely. Who would you like to play who lives to old age? NeilHV
Well, I don’t know if that’s true. Captain Crozier [from The Terror] didn’t die, and Lane Pryce [from Mad Men] wasn’t real. I would love to play [the 19th-century US president] Ulysses S Grant. His history has largely been written by southern US historians and so his achievements have largely been denigrated. But his campaigns are taught in all the military academies around the world. Despite a pretty disastrous presidency, he still managed to [sign a] Civil Rights Act – and he destroyed the Ku Klux Klan.

When the civil war broke out he sold firewood by the side of the road to try to put food on the table for his family. Eight years later, he was president. It’s the kind of quintessential American success story, but history doesn’t regard him that way.

Which made you feel more seasick – the sinking-ship stage set from the 2025 RSC production of Hamlet, in which you played Claudius, or HMS Terror from The Terror? Dr_JA_Zoidberg
Definitely the RSC stage, because it moved throughout the production, so you’d suddenly find yourself losing your footing and wobbling. The set for The Terror was locked off, particularly when it was at that weird angle when the whole thing was tipping to the side.

When you’re drinking scotch in Mad Men, which scotch is it pretending to be? CoveRoad
Well, you drink sugar water, which is horrible. The cigarettes are herbal cigarettes, which are impossible to keep lit, which is why you see everyone puffing really hard. It makes everybody look like complete nicotine addicts.

Did you inherit your father Richard Harris’s singing voice? And do you share his taste for rugby shirts? MissusD and TaffRaffia
I did not inherit his singing voice. I’m passable at karaoke, but I would never charge anybody to hear me sing. I actually have a bunch of his rugby shirts that I kept to remind me of him.

What was the process of learning Belter for The Expanse? Did you model your accent on anyone in particular for your role as Crozier in The Terror? Gironans and Team504
Belter was great fun, because that was an invented accent. When I met the coach, he said: “We’ve got three levels. It’s like a curry: mild, medium and spicy.” I decided to go for the most extreme, spicy version, because my character was supposed to be the original Belter. Crozier was interesting because he was Anglo-Irish, and identified strongly with the crown. We don’t know what that accent would’ve sounded like, so we settled on something that sounded like someone who had an aspiration towards being accepted by English society, but was still Irish.

Did you become more of a John Lennon fan after playing him in Two of Us? Goobdroog
I wouldn’t say I became more of a fan, because I was born in 1961 just before the Beatles released their first album. People were upset by our version of John Lennon because, by this time, he’d become the voice of the peace movement, but he was also an angry man who could be violent and had a massive chip on his shoulder. So I got a lot of flak from Beatles fans who didn’t like the version we were presenting.

Favourite pub? Galdove19
I used to go and have a drink with my dad at the the Coach and Horses at the back of Covent Garden. They have really good Guinness. It’s also the place where my father had his last fight. It was summer. He was sitting outside having a pint. My father would have two sorts of interactions with Irish people. One would be very positive. The other, they’d say: “What the fuck have you ever done for Ireland?” He was having the second interaction with this Irish woman and lost his patience.

He said: “I can forgive many things. I can forgive ignorance, because that’s not your fault. That’s the fault of your education. I can forgive bad manners. Again, not your fault if your parents just didn’t bring you up properly. But the one thing I cannot forgive is ugliness, and you’re the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Now fuck off.”

So she goes inside, gets her boyfriend, who comes out and says [does Irish accent]: “You called my girlfriend ugly. Stand up if you’re a man.” So dad sucker-punched him and knocked him out. He was on the floor, cracked his head, and the girl started jumping up and down, going [does Irish accent]: “Dickie Harris has killed me boyfriend! Dickie Harris has killed me boyfriend!” Dad wasn’t sure what had happened, so he grabbed his Guinness and chucked it in the guy’s face, which brought him round immediately. But he was a big boy and Dad knew that he wasn’t going to win round two, so he leapt into a taxi and took off.”

If you hadn’t done the acting, what would have been your ideal gig? CaptainLib
I think about that all the time. It’s a bit late now. I’m the middle child, so I was always arguing with my brothers, so my parents thought I might make a good lawyer. I was very shy, and still am in some ways. When I went to Duke [University in North Carolina, to study drama] and started acting, my mother came down and saw me, and said to my dad: “You should go see him. He is very good.” And he said: “Well, you would say that, you’re his mother.”

He wouldn’t come down to see me in anything until after I graduated and I stayed behind in the summer to do Entertaining Mr Sloane. I’d made a movie as well while I was at Duke. He watched the film in the afternoon and saw the play in the evening. He was fully prepared to tell me: “Forget this acting lark. It’s not for you.”

I’ll never forget the look on his face when I met him afterwards: the joy that there was this thing that he loved that he had a whole new shared area of dialogue, interest and conversation. Those are some of my best memories: sitting around a table with him. He would act out Olivier’s performance in Titus Andronicus, Scofield’s interpretation of Hamlet, Peter O’Toole’s Macbeth, and I’d soak it all up.

Have you and Charlie Brooker ever been in the same room? ThatDamnCat
I have met him, so the answer to that question is: yes, we’ve been in the same room. We were both at the Bafta tea party ahead of the Emmys, when I was doing the rounds for Chernobyl. We are not the same person. I did tell Charlie Brooker that I wanted to be in Black Mirror and, so far, I have not received a phone call.