Industry Veteran Bob Bender Passes

Bob Bender

Industry veteran Robert “Bob” Bender passed away on Oct. 13 after a battle with cancer. He was 67.

The Bakersfield native followed his passion for live music early. After graduation from high school, his career took him from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, San Francisco and finally to Nashville. For nearly 50 years Bender worked in almost every facet of the industry, culminating in executive positions at Curb Records. He produced over 300 tours, festivals and concerts throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Mexico and Japan, along with managing and working at multiple record labels.

As a tour manager, Bender was part of the 1989 “Ringo Starr and his All-Star Band Tour,” along with representing artists including Billy Preston, Dwight Twilley, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, Gene Pitney and Anvil. While Manager of Artist Development for Curb Records he represented Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Jo Dee Messina and Hank Williams, Jr. He oversaw Curb’s Christian retail segment, helping develop it into a million dollar division which led him to become Curb’s Director of Sales.

In 2017 Bender partnered with Tom Sabella to host The Business Side of Music Podcast, which grew into a leading music industry podcast show on Spotify. The podcast had over 300,000 listeners in 120 countries around the world. Bender was also producing other podcasts, including Between the Notes with Jack Sharkey, Two Dudes Talk Money and Music and Lorrie Morgan’s War Paint, which was his final production credit.

Bender is survived by his wife Debbie Halle; sister Melissa McDonald and husband Jeff; daughter Erin Fitzwater and her husband Jeff; son Joshua Schock; daughter Nicole Perez and husband Christopher; son Devon Bender and his fiancee Mandi Altheide; son Caleb Bender; son Patrick Halle; daughter Katie Berry and husband Cody; daughter Lindsay Halle; 13 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Church of the Holy Rosary (192 Graylynn Dr, Nashville, TN 37214) on Dec. 7 at 11 a.m., with interment at Calvary Cemetery (1001 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210) directly afterwards. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to Music Health Alliance.