Jason Browning, Veteran Tour Manager for Matchbox Twenty and Stone Temple Pilots, Dies at 46
Jason Browning, longtime tour manager for Matchbox Twenty and Rob Thomas, died on Dec. 26. He was 46 years old. The cause of death is as yet unknown.
The founder and CEO of The Browning Group, whose clients include Stone Temple Pilots and Melanie Martinez, Browning was a beloved figure and a fixture on the road.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, he started out in the music business as a security guard for the likes of Hanson and Marilyn Manson — as Browning himself liked to say, his skills ranged “from Hanson to Manson” — eventually taking on Matchbox Twenty as a key client. That would lead to becoming tour manager for several Matchbox tours as well as solo outings by frontman Rob Thomas.
In honoring his friend, Thomas wrote of Browning:
He was a bright light with a dark sense of humor.
He was always five moves ahead of you in any situation.
He could NAIL an Axl Rose impersonation.
He would do anything for his friends and had no time for anyone who crossed them.
He loved to laugh and to make others laugh.
He was perfectly imperfect and always, always trying to improve.
If a man can be measured by the amount of people he leaves behind who will think about him, then he was a giant.
To say he will be missed doesn’t come close.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jason Browning’s name to the Sidewalk Angels Foundation — an animal welfare organization that was close to his heart.
Read Rob Thomas’ note below.
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