Mark Pucci, Longtime Music Publicist and Blues Advocate, Dies at 79

Mark Pucci, a music publicist and longtime advocate for blues artists, has died aged 79. He died on 8 October in Cumming, Georgia, after a brief illness and complications from a stroke. Over a career spanning more than 50 years, he promoted musicians across blues, rock and country, helping shape how their work reached audiences.

Pucci was publicity director at Capricorn Records from 1974 to 1979, then returned as vice-president of publicity and general manager in Nashville from 1991 to 1995. He later ran two Atlanta-based public relations firms, representing artists including Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Taj Mahal, and worked on Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign. In 2008, the Blues Foundation honoured him with its Keeping the Blues Alive Award; donations in his memory can be made to the LifeLine Animal Project.