Alan Edwards (UK publicist)

Alan Edwards (born 1955) is an English publicist and CEO of PR company The Outside Organisation. Over the last 40 years, Edwards has worked with a variety of clients in the entertainment business, from The Rolling Stones, The Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, Shakira, P Diddy, Prince, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Usher, Paul McCartney, David Beckham^[1] and Victoria Beckham.^[2] In 1996, Edwards founded The Outside Organisation,^[2] named the number 1 entertainment PR Company in the UK by PR Week magazine (2014).^[3] His current clients include The Who, Wembley Stadium, Bon Jovi and Led Zeppelin.

Career

1970s and 1980s

At 17, Alan worked as a freelance reviewer for music papers such as Sounds and Record Mirror.^[4] Former NME editor Keith Altham offered him a job at his publicity firm, starting his career in entertainment PR by working on music group The Who.^[5]

After three years, Edwards created a sub-division in the company with a roster of his own clients including The Stranglers, The Buzzcocks, The Damned and Blondie.^[6] In 1981, Alan met Mick Jagger, in New York and went on to represent the Rolling Stones for the next nine years.^[7] During this time, Edwards formed Modern Publicity, which traded for more than a decade and included clients such as the Stones, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Bryan Ferry.^[8] Alan also worked with Prince and represented him again in 2007 when Prince took up a 21 night residency at the O2 Arena.^[9] The company grew throughout the eighties adding artists such as UB40, Robert Palmer, INXS and The Cure.^[10]

1990s and 2000s

In 1990, Edwards formed Poole Edwards, which evolved into Outside Line.^[11] In 1997, Edwards began representing the Spice Girls.^[11] The success of the Spice Girls led to Edwards handling further pop acts including Atomic Kitten, Boyzone, Westlife, All Saints and Leona Lewis.^[12]

BBC Music Moguls (2016)

TV Appearances

Edwards, featured in the BBC Four TV series entitled “Music Moguls”. He presented the episode, “Mythmakers” which takes you through some of the most iconic and pivotal moments in popular music and the role of the publicist in the industry.

Crisis management

Edwards worked closely with the courts both in the UK and abroad in Naomi Campbell’s controversial appearance at The Hague War Crimes trial of Blood diamond suspect Charles Taylor, where he handled the global media throughout the case.^[13]

Exhibitions

In April 2015, Edwards conducted a live event at the V&A^[14] on the role of PR over the last 40 years, using materials selected from his own archives.^[15] Guest speakers included Dylan Jones, Editor of GQ magazine, music photographer Dennis Morris, Jeremy Deller, Timothy Bell, Alastair Campbell and Bob Geldof.^[14]

References