Canadian Michael Cohl’s portfolio is crammed with career triumphs from all sectors of entertainment. It includes being the pre-eminent rock promoter in North America for decades; piloting the first global tours of the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and U2; and being an aggressive player in music, sports, theater, film and television sectors. Along with veteran producer Jeremiah J. Harris, Cohl oversaw the Broadway launch of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” Now in its 3rd year, it is one of the Top 20 highest-grossing Broadway shows of all time. Cohl’s first outing as a concert promoter was in 1970 at the 18,000-seat Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Owens stayed in his dressing room until Cohl was able to borrow the final part of his fee from the arena’s owner. A few years later, Maple Leaf Gardens was seeking a concert partner to work with exclusively, and Cohl was picked, leading him on the path to becoming Canada’s concert emperor. In 1973, Cohl and three partners launched Toronto-based Concert Productions International. For the next decade, CPI was primarily a Canadian player in the North American concert landscape. That changed as CPI significantly extended its sphere of influence, first across Canada through affiliations with Donald K. Donald in Montreal, and Perryscope Concert Productions in Vancouver; and, then, with affiliations with key regional promoters in the United States. While CPI became North America’s innovator in full-service touring, there was sizable resentment in the industry because of the company’s strategy of consolidating local markets by either buying out local promoters or forcing them to partner for shows. In 1989, Cohl wrangled the tour and merchandising rights to the Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels world tour from San Francisco-based promoter Bill Graham, and basically told local promoters, "Here's the deal." Cohl went on to oversee David Bowie’s first global tour, as well as large-scale international tours with Pink Floyd, U2 and others in the ‘90s. Cohl became a major player on the global live music stage despite having no prior experience of promoting or producing shows overseas. He not only had to arrange the financing necessary to launch such ventures, but he had to find partners in markets the world over that could coordinate production, marketing, and staging of shows. In 1996, MCA Concerts Canada, and Molson Breweries purchased the concert divisions of BCL Entertainment, including CPI, Perryscope Concert Productions in and Donald K. Donald Productions. In the summer of 1996, Cohl and Bill Ballard formed The Next Adventure (TNA) based in Toronto and Bermuda with their own financing. They later acquired investors to back the $100-plus million tour guarantees of U2, the Rolling Stones and others. TNA was bought by SFX Entertainment in 1998 for an undisclosed sum. In 2006, Live Nation acquired a controlling interest in the touring division of CPI, as well as a 50% interest in the Grand Entertainment division of the company. Cohl joined Live Nation’s board of directors, and was named vice chairman of the company, as well as CEO for Live Nation Artists. In 2008, Cohl was elected the chairman of the company's Board of Directors. However, after steering Live Nation's string of unprecedented mega deals with Madonna, Jay-Z, U2, and Shakira, Cohl resigned his position as chairman of the Live Nation board, and vacated his post as CEO of Live Nation Artists. Today, Cohl heads S2BN Entertainment, a diversified event entertainment company based in New York City and Toronto that specializes in the acquisition, development, and production of touring exhibitions, live music tours and events, theatrical performances, and consumer and multimedia product offerings.
