On August 27, Keith Urban’s longtime tour production manager, Randy “Baja” Fletcher, died. According to Fox 8, he passed away one day after sustaining injuries from a fall during preparation for one of Urban’s appearances in Ohio.
Urban subsequently released a statement to Fox 8 that read, “Baja Fletcher loved people. Now that’s a phrase that’s a lot easier, and more often said than done. But, this man truly did love people…. and music… and life…and he lived it right. He saw the commonality in all of us and I can promise you this, once you’d been in the orbit of his light, he’d stay with you forever. Some people ask are you a ‘glass half full or a glass half empty’ kinda person? Baja’s view was ‘what a beautiful glass’. I loved him. We all loved him – and I’m grateful he chose us as his road family for 10 years.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Fletcher Entered the Music Business After High School
According to Newcomer Family Obituaries, Fletcher was born in Virginia on October 7, 1948.
He entered the music business just after high school. In the 1970s, Fletcher worked with rock legends ZZ Top before working with Waylon Jennings. He has also toured with Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson, among others.
Begin in 1992, Fletcher worked with Brooks & Dunn, and toured as the pair’s production manager for 18 years.
In 2011, Fletcher began work as the production manager for Keith Urban.
In 2010, he earned the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award. Nine years later, Fletcher was honored with the Production Manager of The Year Award.
He Won the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award
In 2017, Fletcher took home the first-ever CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award at the CMA Awards, according to Music Row.
In a statement, Sarah Trahern, the CMA Chief Executive Officer, shared of the music veteran, “Over the course of his amazing career, Baja has worked with countless artists, concerts, and events. He has been an integral part of some of the genre’s most ambitious tours, the careers of some of Country Music’s biggest icons, and the Country community. The respect that everyone who has ever worked with Baja has for him proves that he is a perfect fit to be the first recipient of this Award.”
That year, the event was hosted by Kristian Bush.
In an interview for CMA Close Up Magazine Fletcher said, “I got to go places that I would never have dreamed this little hillbilly beach boy would end up… I just count my blessings and say, ‘Why me?’ This life I’ve lived, I wish everybody could’ve been there with me when it happened. It was the coolest.”
Fletcher briefly served in the U.S. Army in May 1969.
According to Newcomer Family Obituaries, Fletcher passed away “peacefully holding the hands of his two daughters who were his pride and joy.”
The obituary reveals that Fletcher is survived by his mother, sisters, daughters, their mother, and his niece and newphews.
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