25th Anniversary Parnelli Awards to Be Held at 2027 NAMM Show

August 24, 2026, ANAHEIM, Calif., — For a quarter of a century, the Parnelli Awards has honored and celebrated the best live event professionals who make concert touring happen. The 25th annual Parnelli Awards Awards takes place at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel Friday, January 29, 2027, in Anaheim, California, with NAMM as a gold sponsor.

Founded by Patrick Stansfield (1944-2014) and Terry Lowe, founder of FOH and PLSN magazines, it has grown in stature every year. In what started off as a small dinner in a Southern California Restaurant where Lowe and Stansfield handed out one award – Lifetime Achievement Honoree to Tour/Production Manager Brian Croft – has grown into a gala production where more than 27 awards are handed out. This year’s promises to be the biggest and best ever (the event has consistently sold out every year).

Tickets are on sale now at ParnelliAwards.com.

Bernie Boyle, who is receiving the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, started his career as a teenager in 1962 at the famous Cavern Club setting up amps for this new band called the Beatles. His first gig as a touring roadie was with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers in 1967. From there he went on the road with a diverse group of artists including Electric Light Orchestra, the Tubes, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Satriani, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, and Faith Hill, among others. In 1996 he was tour manager for Michael Jackson’s historic HIStory tour which involved 82 concerts across five continents, 35 countries, and 58 cities. In 2005, he went to work for Paul McCartney (who remembered Boyle from those Cavern days). Bernie is still on the road, currently as Tour Manager for Lionel Richie. 

Dr. Christian Heil’s invention of the modern line-source array turned concert physics into a precise science and revolutionized the live events industry and is thus being honored with the Parnelli Audio Innovator Award. After earning his Ph.D. in particle physics, Dr. Heil founded L-Acoustics in 1984 and fundamentally shifted the industry in 1992 with the debut of V-DOSC. It was the first true line-source system, bringing full bandwidth clarity and impact to every seat in the audience. This breakthrough sparked a lineage of industry standards, including ARCS, dV-DOSC, and Soundvision, the first 3D acoustic simulation software. In 2008, the K1 system established a benchmark for stadium and festival sound. Dr. Heil’s development of L-ISA technology expanded the sonic canvas. Most recently, the introduction of the L Series provided another leap in sound quality, control, and efficiency. 

Rocky Paulson, who is receiving the Parnelli Visionary Award, has had a celebrated career as a production rigger and industry educator. After a stint in the Navy, he started rigging in 1969 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. In 1973 he joined the famed “Disney Riggers” team and was the Touring Rigger on the live production of Peter Pan for several years. In 1977, he founded Stage Rigging, which became one of the preeminent rigging companies. He’s rigged major tours by the likes of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Earth Wind & Fire, the Doobie Brothers, and Billy Joel, among others. He was one of the co-chairs of the original ETCP Rigging Certification Subject Matter Experts. He’s been a pioneer, mentor, teacher, and safety activist his entire career.

Terry Lowe started out as a drummer in bands in Indianapolis when at age 24 he founded a weekly music magazine. After selling that a few years later, he spent the next two decades working for professional music trade magazines (Performance, Mix). Then in 1999 he founded Pro Lights and Staging News. In quick succession he founded FRONT of HOUSE magazine, an industry trade show, and the Event Production Directory. Today over 40,000 industry professionals subscribe to the magazines. He cofounded the Parnelli Awards in 2001, his most enduring legacy. Since its founding, nearly 600 “of the year” honors have been awarded and over 60 industry professionals have been recognized with lifetime achievement honors. And through all that he has donated thousands of dollars in scholarship funds in support of the education of the next generation of live event professionals.

“On the 25th anniversary of the Parnelli Awards, we are humbled to recognize these legends of live entertainment,” states Parnelli Awards Board of Advisors Butch Allen. “These honorees are the pillars upon which the portable touring industry was built—their contributions, achievements, and life’s work have shaped every stage, every tour, and every live experience that followed. It is not only an honor and a privilege to celebrate them tonight, but a reminder of why we do what we do.”