According to billboard.com, Jonathan Mayers, the co-founder of Superfly Entertainment and the co-creator of iconic festivals including Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, has died. His age and cause of death are unknown at this time. “This is incredibly tough news for so many of us,” Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw told Billboard. “Jon was the creative force behind so much of what people experience at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands and many other events over the years. We’re all really going to miss him.”

Mayers grew up an hour outside New York City and attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where he graduated from in 1995. Mayers was first introduced to the music business through his work with famed New Orleans venue Tipitina’s and the long-running Jazz Fest celebration. He co-founded the promotion company Superfly in 1996 with Rick Farman, Richard Goodstone and Kerry Black, who staged its first concert during Mardi Gras with the Meters, Maceo Parker and Rebirth Brass Band.

In 2002, the four men launched and sold out the first Bonnaroo after discovering the perfect festival site an hour outside of Nashville in Manchester, Tenn. Partnering with promoter Ashley Capps of AC Entertainment, agent Chip Hooper of Paradigm, manager Coran Capshaw of Red Light and securing headliners like Trey Anastasio from Phish and Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, the men created a 70,000-person festival that would become the blueprint for hundreds of other music festivals across the country.