Peter Katsis, Manager of Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey, Backstreet Boys, More, Dies at 69

Peter Katsis, the veteran music manager behind Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey and numerous other high-profile acts, has died aged 69 from complications of congestive heart failure. He passed away on 6 August 2026, prompting an outpouring of tributes from artists he worked with over a four-decade career that helped shape alternative rock and other genres.

Katsis began his career in Chicago in the 1980s managing industrial rock band Ministry, before relocating to Los Angeles in the 1990s, where he went on to work with The Cramps, Jane's Addiction, Korn and Limp Bizkit. His roster later broadened to include Backstreet Boys, One Direction, Snoop Dogg, Liz Phair and 311, and in 2008 he co-founded the management firm Prospect Park. Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan described him as "like family" and praised his role in ushering in the alternative revolution, while Ministry also paid tribute on social media.