Danny Nozell didn’t expect to have a globe-trotting career as a music manager when he graduated from college. The St. Paul, Minnesota native who attended Catholic schools throughout his education expected to work in the hospitality and tourism industry, managing hotels, bars, and conference centres, which is exactly what he was doing when his plans suddenly detoured.
A chance encounter with the drummer for American heavy metal band Slipknot led to Nozell managing that band and Megadeth, looking after security for The Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon tour in 1997-1998 and, eventually, becoming the trusted manager for country music icon Dolly Parton.
It’s a fairytale existence for a man who married a love of music with a strong work ethic and a drive to succeed. Nozell shared that fairytale with students from Notre Dame College School’s music, drama, and business classes on September 18 – at least the parts that could be shared with a room filled with impressionable youth.
The visit was part of an ongoing series of classroom chats with students hosted by Notre Dame College School, including former Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, former provincial opposition leader Tim Hudak and Welland Mayor Frank Campion.
“I appreciate how guest speakers play a crucial role in enriching educational experiences for our students,” said Principal Andrew Boon. “They bring diverse perspectives, real-world expertise, and firsthand insights that can spark meaningful discussions. With Danny, is experiences and knowledge can be relevant to our students, and hopefully inspire them on their own pathway.”
Nozell told the students he took on the music management side of things slowly while still working at his steady job, beginning as a runner (the someone-needs-to-get-this person, ensuring band members have everything they want and need, running around all day or night), and eventually working up to Production Assistant, then Production Manager.
“I just kind of worked my way up, learning the business while I was still managing the hotel,” Nozell told the students.
Finally, though, he came to a crossroads. “I was doing my regular job for experience, but it wasn’t really my passion,” he said. So he quit his job and pursued the music industry full-time, a move that wasn’t endorsed by his parents.
“They told me if I did this, I’d be on my own,” said Nozell, who knew it was sink-or-swim time. He toured the world from 1997-2002, “and I got an education that money can’t buy.”
Nozell threw himself into learning about all kinds of music. “Metal, rock, hip-hop: I worked with so many different artists along the way. I just kept growing and educating myself.”
Fun fact: Those fabulous stadium tours we love cost money. Big money. And often aren’t big money-makers for the bands. In fact, he said, “they can be losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. It’s the kind of thing that can make or break a band.”
A savvy businessman, Nozell developed innovative ways to save bands money on tours, often becoming very unpopular because he cut positions to make sure that bands didn’t lose money. Fourteen trucks of pyrotechnics for a single show? Cut back by half or cut then out entirely. Dozens trucks on the road loaded with staff, lights, and other extras? Get that down to 10, 12, or 14 trucks and fewer hangers-on.
“I wasn’t always well-liked, but what I was doing was saving the tour.”
Nozell created a sort of all-inclusive package for bands that take all the single-night costs into consideration and paid everyone monthly, instead of every night, allowing him to track the cost of the tour.
“It’s all about business,” he said. “Merch (merchandise, like t-shirts and other concert paraphernalia) and VIP experiences – that’s how these artists make money.”
Enter Dolly Parton.
She has one of the most recognizable faces and voices in the world and is known to live up to her name. A generous philanthropist, Parton has given away some 250 million books for children through her Imagination Library initiative worldwide. She’s also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And yet, couldn’t fill a stadium on a tour.
Nozell was waiting for one major headline (who he never did name) to free up cash (read: fire someone) so he could join the team when Dolly came around in 2005. Would he consider becoming her manager?
Despite a vast music library, her Dollywood theme park and Hollywood success in movies like 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias (as well as clunkers like 1984’s Rhinestone, with Sylvester Stallone), she just couldn’t fill a large arena. It made no sense to Nozell, until he started doing a little research. That’s when he had his lightbulb moment.
Parton was smart. She owned her music catalogue and wrote the music used in her movies. But that didn’t matter in the male-oriented world of country music, Nozell learned after doing a deep dive into the genre.
Back as Parton was making a name for herself, she was a session and backup singer. She and her other female country stars in the 60s and 70s could open for giants like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Conway Twitty, and even outsell them in record stores, but they could never headline a show. So when Dolly toured as an independent, she’d sell 2,000 tickets for an 18,000-seat stadium, not a glowing return on investment.
So Nozell took a knife to the tour expenses. No more trying to fill big arenas for a single-night stand when they could easily book a few nights in small venues, fill every seat, and make more money. It’s a formula he’s perfected over time for many clients, creating a sense of urgency for ticket sales by targeting where her record sales were strongest.
“It usually takes six months in advance to get tickets sold,” he said. “We sold out Dolly’s entire tour in 60 days.”
“Give me a chance to do something different,” Nozell asked Dolly a year or so later. He was eager to take the tour overseas, something she’d never done. Dolly, who is loyal to her long-time staff, agreed, with one warning: “If you lose me two or three million dollars, I’m going to fire you.”
It was another sink-or-swim moment, for Nozell, who wasn’t going to allow himself to go under.
He replicated the tour buses used in the US in the UK (Parton lives on tour buses, never going to hotels), to ensure she had the comforts of home. That came at a steep cost – about $4 million US each.
“I leapfrog these all over Europe, never setting foot in a hotel in four weeks,” he said.
The tour, another collection of smaller venues, was a resounding success.
The following year, in 2008, they sold out 12, 30,000-seat stadiums and eight arenas in two and a half months.
Then Broadway beckoned. Dolly’s biggest movie hit, 9 to 5, was making a comeback on stage, so Nozell had to learn a whole new aspect of the entertainment business, he told students.
“I didn’t know anything about Broadway then,” he said. “But I do now.”
Since then, he’s replicated tour success in North America, Europe and Australia, making Dolly the most recognized and well-liked - and one of the richest – celebrities in the world.
Nozell has done well for himself, too. He owns several companies, including CTK Enterprises (which represents Parton, Megadeth, Kenny G, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Jessica Simpson, among others, film and TV production company NOZ Entertainment, and Nash Aviation, the private aviation company he uses to move celebrities from place to place when the tour bus would take too long. He also owns several real estate holdings, and catering companies.
“I own the companies,” he told the students, “then I rent to myself.”
His advice to students is simple. “Everything we do is researched, it’s planned, it’s strategized. Stuff just isn’t going to fall from above to be a success. You have to make it happen. My dad didn’t believe in my career choice back then. He does now.”
After the 45-minute visit, student Odin Smith stopped to chat with Nozell. The Grade 11 student is a drummer and was thrilled to have a speaker come from an industry he’s passionate about.
“I have a whole new look on the music industry,” Smith said. “It was so inspiring. I always heard stories about these bands and then they got big and I never understood how. This is the best speaker we’ve ever had. It just shows you how someone can go from being a nobody to being a millionaire who runs all these shows from behind the curtains.”