The opening of the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival on March 11 is a bittersweet affair for the organizers because, as they made their way to listen to President Barack Obama's keynote address for the 30th year of the awesome event, they also received news that the event's co-founder, Louis Meyers, passed away in a hospital in South Austin.
Meyers was 60 years old. Cause of death is is so far unknown but he was reportedly admitted in the hospital on the night of March 10 for extremely low blood pressure.
SXSW lost an old friend today, co-founder Louis Jay Meyers. He will be missed. https://t.co/3AVAFozmbh
— SXSW (@sxsw) March 12, 2016
Meyers was one of the four original founders of the SWSX Festival in 1987 and served as the Musical Festival Director for the first event and continued to work on the festival until he eventually left in 1994.
Meyers explained that his work for the SXSW caused him a lot of stress and health problems. This was mostly his reason for stepping down and getting back to actively promoting talented musicians-most notably, Sam Baker- and eventually directing Folk Alliance International.
Some say that Meyers got tired of being the most hated man in the music industry during his stint as SXSW Music Festival Director because of all the bands and musical acts he had to turn down.
"The reason South by Southwest worked for the industry is because we took the time to be the A&R people [...] It was critical to me personally that every act at South By was worth seeing, that nobody could walk away going, 'How the hell did that band get booked at this thing?," Meyers explained in an interview in 2013.
Despite leaving SXSW in 1994, Meyers never stopped coming to the festival. The organizers said he was always present to serve as the captain for his softball team in the closing tournament and barbecue.
Louis Meyers will definitely be missed.
