‘Crushed’ Springsteen mourns with music world

BRUCE Springsteen’s devastation at the death of legendary promoter Jim Aiken was revealed yesterday as the entertainment world turned out for his memorial service.

Mr Aiken, whose genial charm earned him the nickname Gentleman Jim, was on first-name terms with the most stellar names.

The loss to Springsteen of such a close friend — who got him to perform in front of 100,000 people at Slane Castle in 1985, and again in Belfast last November for one of the most talked-about concerts ever staged in the city — was confirmed during the Requiem Mass.

Lifelong friend and business associate Jim Clarke read out a letter the rock star and his wife Patti Scialfa sent to Aiken at his home in Belfast last week.

It said: “Dear Jim, we have just got the news over here. We’re crushed.

“Such a big part of the joy we feel when we come to Ireland is seeing that big grin of yours when we come off stage.

“Patti and I send out love a thousand times over. Please call if we can be of any help in any way.

“All our love, Patti and Bruce Springsteen.”

Mr Aiken was the driving force behind countless groundbreaking concerts. One of the biggest of all came in 1985, when U2, by then commonly acknowledged as the biggest band on the planet, played in Croke Park as part of their Unforgettable Fire tour.

It was the first such event at GAA headquarters, beginning a process that reached its apogee with the recent meeting of the Irish and English rugby teams.

Mr Aiken himself had strong GAA links, having played county football for Armagh in his younger days.

Having studied for the priesthood at Maynooth College, he worked as a schoolteacher before — drifting —by his own admission — into the promotion business.

His first major concert, Simon and Garfunkel at the RDS, kick-started a career that saw him work with, and earn the respect of, the biggest names in music.

Country superstar Garth Brooks, Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley and showbusiness mogul Louis Walsh were among more than 1,000 mourners packed into St Brigid’s Church in south Belfast.

TV presenter Patrick Kielty, Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and agents representing Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart and Justin Timberlake all sat in silence as touching tributes were paid to the man who brought world-class performers to the city’s stages while violence raged across the North.

Elton John, who sent a floral tribute, was the first to play at a series of annual open-air concerts organised by the promoter in the grounds of the Stormont Parliament after the signing of the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.

Brooks, Stewart, Luciano Pavarotti and the Eagles all followed suit.

The magnitude of Mr Aiken’s contribution to Ireland’s cultural life, particularly at a time when Belfast was seen as a no-go zone for cosseted household names, shone through in the tributes which have poured in since his death.

President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern both sent representatives, while close business associates Maurice Cassidy and Tommy Higgins also travelled up from Dublin.

His huge success was built on unrivalled negotiating skills, where deals were struck on the strength of a handshake and his word.

Mr Clarke said the likes of Neil Diamond and Charlie Pride were only convinced to put Ireland on their tour schedules because of their faith in Mr Aiken.

“The more they got to know him the more they trusted him, and the more they liked him,” he told mourners.

Yet the promoter shunned the limelight himself and was devoted to his wife Anne and their five children.

Emphasising the tight family bonds, all 11 of his grandchildren took part in the service.

“Jim was born on the Border at Jonesborough. He was proud of that, proud of being from Northern Ireland, proud of living in Belfast and proud of being Irish,” Mr Clarke said.

Following the funeral, Mr Aiken’s body was taken for burial in his hometown of Jonesborough, south Armagh.