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Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides our audience...
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides our audience...
Gregory Elias is the corporate lawyer who spent $7million on getting the Rolling Stones to play in Cuba – and they didn’t even play his favorite song
This is the corporate lawyer who spent $7million on getting the Rolling Stones to play in Cuba – and they didn’t even play his favorite song. Gregory Elias, a wealthy attorney from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, funded the historic gig through his charitable trust.
The British rockers played at Habana’s Ciudad Deportiva on Friday in front of an estimated half a million fans, the same week Barack Obama became the first sitting President to visit the communist state in more than 90 years.
Elias still cannot believe he managed to set up the event, and recalled how he initially predicted the band’s manager, Jayne Smith, to think he was crazy.
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The wealthy attorney from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, paid for Mick Jagger and the band to fly to the former Communist nation and play through his charitable trust.
Gregory Elias, is an attorney from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao
He arranged the historic gig that took place in the capital Havana on Friday
Coincided with President Obama’s trip, but not on purpose
Elias called their manager in November, thinking he would be shot down
But just 24 hours later, she said the band agreed and the gig was a go
He funded the production through his charitable trust
One aspect of the event did anger Elias. The Stones didn’t play his favorite tune, Far Away Eyes
For until recently, it was illegal to listen to rock and roll in Cuba.
He first called on November 13 in a desperate first attempt to get the concert off the ground.
Rolling Stone Mick Jagger in Cuba
‘I mean, who in heaven’s name am I?’ he told the Miami Herald, recalling the conversation.
‘I didn’t expect her to call back. But 24 hours later, she did. And it was a go.
‘When the boys — that’s how Mrs. Smyth calls them —when the boys go on tour, what they put together is completely out of this world.
‘It is the best and it has to be better than anything else. The production team had to start thinking how to make this possible.’
It’s assumed that the timing and preparation to Obama’s visit were somehow linked.
But Elias told the Herald it was all a coincidence triggered when he read the news that the Stones were launching a five-week tour of Latin American in early February.
Because of the state of Cuba’s economy, most of the items needed to stage a concert needed to be brought in.
