Alex Cooley, known as "the unofficial mayor of Atlanta music," is credited as the man who brought rock and roll to Atlanta. In his lifelong career as a concert promoter, Cooley put on thousands of shows, bringing to his hometown almost every major musical act in the world for millions of music fans. He owned and operated some of the city's legendary rock music nightclubs, in addition to founding the Music Midtown festival in 1994.

In 1980 Cooley and his partner Peter Conlon established Concerts/Southern Promotions, which, as the most active and prolific concert company in Atlanta and the Southeast, presented nearly 400 shows a year. The business was bought in 1997 by SFX Entertainment, which in turn was purchased in 2000 by New York–based Clear Channel Communication Inc., recognized as the largest promoter of live entertainment events in the world. Cooley and Conlon remained the local directors of the company they founded.

In 1994, Conlon and Cooley created the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta. With Cooley's retirement in 2004, the company became Peter Conlon Presents, in late 1997, SFX Entertainment bought Alex Cooley/Peter Conlon Presents, then changed hands in 2000 when radio giant Clear Channel Communications entered the concert promotion business and acquired SFX.

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/alex-cooley-1939-2015

Related materials in other repositories: Alex Cooley and Peter Conlon Papers and Peter Conlon Southern Promotion concert files, ms3653, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.