Keith Urban’s longtime production manager, Randy “Baja” Fletcher, died in a tragic accident on stage this past weekend.
Fletcher died on Aug. 27, one day after suffering an injury while setting up for Urban’s concert in Bay, Ohio, on Aug. 26.
Production Lights and Staging News reported that Fletcher sustained serious injuries and was rushed by medevac to a hospital in Toledo. There he passed peacefully surrounded by family and loved ones. He was 73 years old.
Fletcher worked as a production manager for Waylon Jennings, Brooks & Dunn, Randy Travis, ZZ Top and, for the last 10 years, Keith Urban.
Keith said in a statement to Billboard, “Randy Baja Fletcher loved people. Now that’s a phrase that’s a lot easier, and more often said than done. But, this man truly did love people, and music, and life, and he lived it right.”
“He saw the commonality in all of us and I can promise you this, once you’d been in the orbit of his light, he’d stay with you forever,” he added. “Some people ask are you a ‘glass half full or a glass half empty’ kinda person?” Urban continued “Baja’s view was, ‘What a beautiful glass.’ I loved him. We all loved him, and I’m grateful he chose us as his road family for 10 years.”
Brooks & Dunn’s Kix Brooks told Billboard, “If there was ever a problem out there he couldn’t solve, I never heard about it, and if he ever had a cross word to say about anybody, there’s a good chance, they were no friend of mine. We ran the road for almost 20 years together, and when Ronnie and I took a break in 2010, Urban made the quick call. Baja was a guaranteed asset to any tour, but much more importantly, he was the comfort any tour must have when the road gets long, when the crew gets tired, when the smiles began to fade at the end of a long day — he was the man! Rest in peace, my friend — you will be missed.”
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