The head of music at Paradigm Talent Agency and Monterey Peninsula local Chip Hooper died this past Saturday after battling cancer. He was 53.
According to Billboard.com, Hooper was a regular appearance on their annual Power 100 list. He was the personal agent to Phish and the Dave Matthews Band and oversaw the 100-plus talent agents who represented more than 2,000 clients including national acts like Bob Weir, Lyle Lovett and Monterey-grown musicians like Lauren Shera.
“I can’t even turn on music right now. It’s really hard,” says one friend from the Monterey Peninsula. “I met him shortly after he found out he had cancer a few years ago.”
Friends say Hooper was able to rise above the cutthroat attitude in the music industry.
That attitude was based in his personal life; friends say Hooper was very attentive to his relationships with friends and family.
Hooper was also an avid photographer and spent a lot of free time shooting film along the Central Coast. A collection of his photography is on display at the main lodge of Carmel Valley Ranch.