Beaverhausen's NYC News: The End of Roseland and a Village People Cowboy

Roseland 1961

Recently, I saw Blondie perform at Roseland. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/10/debbie-harry-and-blondie-rule-roseland.html The 1919 roller rink turned ballroom (in the 1920s) turned concert hall (since the 1990s) just announced it will close its doors in April. Another legendary venue gone from the NYC landscape.

Madonna has played there, The Rolling Stones have played Roseland, The Black Party has been thrown there. But soon it will be gone. 

Roseland has for years been a favored New York [place] for a wide range of bands from the early days of rock, through disco, grunge, modern rock, jam, pop, urban and EDM. The venue found a new gear with a $1 million production/rigging renovation in the early ‘90s, funded by [developer Larry] Ginsberg, which led to more high profile bookings of multiple dates on bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and other hot acts when competition in that cap range was not as fierce, reported Billboard. 

News that seems to have escaped the mainstream media about the death of Village People's latest cowboy, AJ Perelli, but Sobel Nation and Our City Radio reported on the incident. http://queens.ourcityradio.com/stations/dance-news/queens-city-radio-sends-condolences-family-friends-village-peoples-aj-perelli 

"May AJ RIP and sing to the Angels," wrote Our City's Program Manager, Barbara Sobel. 

"One of his biggest achievements to date came several months ago when he landed the gig in the role of the Cowboy (originally played by Jeff Olson) in the group,Village People," said Ms Sobel's article in Our City Radio online, written before the tragedy.

The group Village People currently are coming up the dance charts, internationally, with their new single, "Let's Get Back to the Dancefloor," and appeared on this season's premiere episode of Arsenio.  Other members have expressed their grief, fond memories and condolences.

Perelli suffered serious brain damage from a fall or from an attack. As of now, details are unclear. He was 24 years of age.