William Martin Aucoin (December 29, 1943 – June 28, 2010)[1][2] was an American band manager, well known for his work with the rock band Kiss and Billy Idol.
Aucoin worked at WGBH in Boston during his college years and after. He later worked at Teletape Productions as a cinematographer.[3] Credited with discovering Kiss, Aucoin managed the group for nearly a decade. He was fired in 1982 due to the band's declining album sales, his managerial decisions,[4] and his drug abuse,[5] but later worked with the band on various DVD projects.
Aucoin was involved in the development of a television show Supermarket Sweep in the early 1970s, and went on to manage and engineer the rise of commercially successful solo acts, such as Billy Squier and Billy Idol, after managing them both in their respective bands (Piper. Generation X) in the mid to late 1970s.[6][7] From 2005 to 2007, Aucoin went into the Broadway business with a staging of The Who's Quadrophenia, which showed intermittently for two years in Anaheim and Los Angeles.
In 2006, Aucoin had reentered the management business with his company Aucoin Globe Entertainment, and worked with several artists up until his death.
Personal life and demise
Aucoin died from surgical complications while being treated for prostate cancer. He had a partner, Roman Fernandez.
A statement from Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons described him as "our irreplaceable original manager, mentor and dear friend… Words cannot convey his impact on us or those close to him."[8]
^Symmons, J. (2023). The Rise of the Fox: 1950-1982, Eric Carr Revealed, Volume 1, an unauthorized biography. Spirit of Inquiry. p. 320. ISBN978-1-7390695-1-3.
