Sharpe-Young lived for music

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Music man: Garry Sharpe-Young at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands.

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Garry Sharpe-Young was a man who knew his music.

He not only brought several great acts to Taranaki in his role as the events business development manager at the New Plymouth District Council, but he also penned nearly 20 books on heavy metal music and interviewed some of the best in the business.

Mr Sharpe-Young died suddenly at his home on Friday after suffering an aneurism.

The Englishman moved to Taranaki eight years ago with his wife and three children in search of somewhere safe, clean and green.

The 45-year-old got into showbiz by accident when he was about 14 doing artwork on album covers.

Mr Sharpe-Young worked as a journalist for British, American and German rock magazines, wrote music reference books, biographies for Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath and set up the popular encyclopedic rock music website Rockdetector.

While working as a journalist, Mr Sharpe-Young interviewed many of the major bands around and would often travel overseas to interview artists such as Prince and Metallica.

When he first arrived in the region he wrote a music column for the Taranaki Daily News then moved on to Venture Taranaki and the New Plymouth District Council, securing major events for the region.

His biggest coup was Fleetwood Mac, who performed at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands in December to a sell-out crowd.

Mr Sharpe-Young was also the founder of G-Taranaki, the guitar festival launched in July 2008.

In a recent interview Mr Sharpe- Young told the Taranaki Daily News one of his biggest goals was putting Taranaki on the world stage as "the venue" for artists to play.

"I love working with the people here, love Taranaki, I'm absolutely dedicated to getting this venue on the map internationally and I love it."

- © Fairfax NZ News