Ron Delsener, known as the “Godfather of Gigs” and Long Island Music Entertainment Hall of Fame inductee, has a career going back over 60 years to the Beatles playing their first outdoor shows in 1964 and working with the promoter at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, NY. Delsner is the reason rock n’ roll music got into Carnegie Hall and was there from the beginning of the evolution of concerts from theaters to arenas to stadiums long before it was common for artists to play such large venues and in an era before major global promoters AEG and Live Nation existed. Delsener would become the king of concert promotion in New York City and would work with the biggest artists like Cher, The Who, KISS, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, The Beach Boys, and countless others as well as being responsible for the historic Simon & Garfunkel reunion in Central Park. At one time, you would see "Ron Delsner presents" all over concert tickets and advertisements. Now in 2025, Delsener has a documentary on his incredible career that has been screened the last 2 years, and at the time of filming, Delsener was 86 and attending multiple concerts in one evening while still working in promotions. Just three days before this event, Delsener turned 90.
For the Grammy Museum’s "Reel To Reel" series, there was a screening of the documentary perfectly titled Ron Delsener Presents on Wednesday night (6/18). KISS co-founder and bassist Gene Simmons who appears in the documentary gave an introduction before the screening and following the screening was a panel moderated by P.R. legend Bob Merlis with Delsener himself, the film’s director and son of music icon Sting, Jake Sumner, and producer Margaret Munzer Loeb. The film includes interviews with KISS’s Paul Stanley and manager Doc McGhee, Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven, Earth Wind and Fire’s Verdine White, Jon Bon Jovi, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel.
