From managing some of rock's biggest bands like Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe to finding himself at the center of a drug-smuggling scandal, Doc McGhee has left an unforgettable mark on music history.
KISS/FacebookDoc McGhee, pictured with KISS, a band he still manages today.
Doc McGhee is a name forever linked with rock’s biggest acts — including Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, and KISS — but his work as a rock music manager isn’t all he’s remembered for.
In the 1980s, McGhee faced a scandal for his involvement in a marijuana-smuggling operation. Specifically, he tried to help smuggle 40,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States via a shrimp boat in 1982. Despite this, McGhee emerged from the scandal relatively unscathed and ready to work.
Get back to work he did, and before long, McGhee had made a name for himself for a whole new reason. He helped organize the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989, which was the first time the Soviet Union had allowed hard rock bands to perform in its capital city. Some later speculated that this festival hastened the end of the Cold War.
How Doc McGhee Became A Rock Music Manager
Born Harold Millard “Doc” McGhee in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, the future music manager grew up with music in his blood. His first taste of the live music business came through his grandmother, whose restaurant bar regularly hosted big bands. He also enjoyed watching The Ed Sullivan Show.
He later remembered: “Whenever they would have a musical talent on one of the shows, I would make sure I watched it, because at an early age of like, 12 or 13, I was playing guitar, so I gravitated toward music from there. And then when the Beatles came out, I was just hooked.”
Mark Weiss/Rock Scene/YouTubeDoc McGhee, pictured with Jon Bon Jovi.
Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, Doc McGhee became increasingly determined to be involved in music in some way. After a stint in the U.S. Army in West Berlin and a brief, unglamorous period doing odd jobs in Florida, McGhee caught a break: a chance introduction to a Hollywood executive who was working on a film about Marilyn Monroe.
The meeting led to McGhee’s first steps in managing acts professionally. While he first began hanging out at recording studios because he wanted to be a successful guitar player himself, fate had other plans, and he soon moved to the business side of the industry instead.
He first managed Canadian rock guitarist Pat Travers from 1978 until 1981, and before long, he had moved on to Mötley Crüe. As McGhee recalled, “When people would ask an artist if they could speak to their management, they would get directed to me, and I guess that’s how I got the title.”
He soon helped Mötley Crüe become superstars, as well as Bon Jovi, using his lifelong interest in music, his thorough research into the music industry, and his valuable time speaking with everyone he could at recording studios to give his bands guidance. He also took one record company mogul’s advice on surrounding himself with smart people in the hopes of running into “geniuses” along the way.
McGhee also became a mentor of sorts, pushing artists beyond their limits. But then, an unexpected scandal threatened his career — and his freedom.
An Infamous Drug-Smuggling Operation
In 1982, Doc McGhee reportedly found himself helping to smuggle 40,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States by using a shrimp boat. By the late 1980s, he was in deep trouble for his involvement in the operation.
According to VICE, federal prosecutors were claiming that McGhee was a go-between for an international drug ring. McGhee, for his part, insisted he wasn’t really a drug smuggler, and said he had merely introduced a smuggler to an acquaintance who had a contact for getting marijuana from Colombia.
In 1988, McGhee pleaded guilty to helping smuggle the marijuana, still maintaining that he wasn’t an active smuggler. Initially, it seemed like he might be facing time behind bars, and possibly the end of his career.
But McGhee, of course, had friends in high places. Bon Jovi wrote a passionate, six-page letter to the judge, pleading for leniency: “You see your honor, Doc did in fact commit a crime and I realize the severity of his case. But a man with his knowledge and commitment to the music industry can do so much good as a public servant.”
Rob Verhorst/Redferns/Getty ImagesBon Jovi backstage at the Monsters Of Rock festival in Mannheim, West Germany in 1986.
Ultimately, Doc McGhee was sentenced to serve 180 days in a community treatment center and pay a $15,000 fine. He was also ordered to set up an anti-drug foundation and create an “anti-drug documentary film with rock stars, an anti-drug recording, and anti-drug brochures.”
As part of his repentance, he arranged for Bon Jovi to speak with high schoolers about avoiding illegal substances. At one point, Jovi blamed parents for causing their kids to turn to drugs: “You come home after three or four martinis. You call it a businessman’s lunch. And you give your kids a bunch of s***.”
He also encouraged the kids to resist peer pressure: “You’ve got to be your own person. By being your own person you can stand up to anything.”
Though some were impressed by McGhee’s ability to turn his scandal into a public service campaign, critics argued it was more of a PR strategy than anything else. Either way, McGhee wasn’t done yet — and his next move made music history in a unique and surprising way.
Inside The Moscow Music Peace Festival
Famously, Doc McGhee played a key role in organizing the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. Working alongside Russian musician Stas Namin, McGhee arranged for acts like Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, and Ozzy Osbourne to perform at Central Lenin Stadium.
It was the first time that the Soviet Union had permitted hard rock acts to perform in Moscow, attracting international attention as the event promoted combatting drug abuse and the possibility of world peace and harmony.
Creative Commons/BjornsphotoMötley Crüe, pictured in 2012 at the Sweden Rock Festival.
The event drew over 100,000 attendees, and it was also watched by about a billion people in 59 other countries, influencing audiences far beyond the Iron Curtain. Dubbed by some as the “Russian Woodstock,” the Moscow Music Peace Festival gave rock music fans in the Soviet Union the chance to see some of their favorite acts live, and it gave those in Western countries a rare look into what life in Russia was really like.
Some believed it promoted so much understanding between people from different backgrounds and walks of life that it may have even hastened the end of the Cold War. For McGhee, it was the chance to leverage his music industry influence for good, turning scandal into redemption.
Today, Doc McGhee remains one of rock’s most influential managers, still managing the band KISS and shaping both the sound and culture of modern rock. Though it may have seemed that his scandal could have cut his influence short, his perseverance ensured that he would continue to leave an unforgettable mark on music history.
After learning about Doc McGhee, discover 25 wild tales of rock star excess gone way too far. Then, take a look at 55 crazy photos from history’s most iconic music festivals.
