Dennis Ruffo is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

music promoter, based in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario, Canada.

History

Dennis Ruffo commenced his music promotion career in the 1970s in

, Ontario, Canada booking smaller venues. In 1982, he was hired as its general manager by Bass Clef Entertainment, a major Canadian concert promoter co-owned by

Harvey Glatt Harvey Glatt (born March 28, 1934) is a Canadian music promoter, manager, broadcaster, record and instrument retailer, and record label owner. Early life and education Harvey Glatt was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, graduating from Glebe C ...

and

Harold Levin Harold Levin (born 13 March 1956) is an American violist, composer, and conductor. An Interlochen Arts graduate, Levin holds a BS from Ball State University, a MM from the University of Cincinnati, and a DMA from Rutgers University. He has bee ...

. Ruffo was selected over

Arthur Fogel Arthur Fogel is a Canadian music promoter and the CEO of the Global Touring division of Live Nation Entertainment. His team has managed four of the top five highest-grossing tours in history, including those by U2, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and The P ...

, who subsequently joined

Michael Cohl Michael Cohl is a Canadian concert promoter, theatrical producer and touring impresario. He is the former Chairman of Live Nation. Cohl now runs S2BN Entertainment, with offices in New York and Toronto. Having been named the Howard Hughes of ro ...

and

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

. Peter Robb,
Arthur Fogel's year of living famously
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', May 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-01. It was through meeting Ruffo, who had booked the Wells-Davidson Band, in which Fogel was the drummer, that Arthur Fogel initially developed his interest in concert promotion. Ruffo's initial concert promotion activities with Bass Clef Entertainment included concerts by

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

and

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

. In 1994, Ruffo became the Vice-President of Bretton Woods Entertainment, a company owned by Ottawa entrepreneur

Bruce Firestone Bruce Firestone (born December 4, 1951) of Ottawa, Ontario, is a real estate developer, former sports team owner and university professor. He is the founder of the modern-day Ottawa Senators NHL professional ice hockey club and former part-owner ...

. Firestone had also acquired the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

football franchise. Ruffo concurrently became a Vice-President and Alternate Governor of the football club during 1994. In 1995, Ruffo continued his concert promotion career as Dennis Ruffo Productions. Later promotional activities by Ruffo have included concerts by

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound ...

and the

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer pa ...

. Ruffo has also co-produced concerts with Montreal promoter Rubin Fogel and with House of Blues Concerts Canada.Notice of co-production of concert by Sheryl Crow, July 10, 2006
; ottawastart.com. Retrieved 2014-07-09.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruffo, Dennis Living people Canadian music industry executives Businesspeople from Ottawa Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)