Dear Listener | Ira Blacker: A Letter About Family, Survival & Rock & Roll

About this episode

There are some stories that take a lifetime to tell. In this episode of The Letterbox Podcast, Ira Blacker shares a deeply personal letter about his childhood, family, survival and the experiences that shaped the man he became. Ira’s life would eventually take him into the heart of the rock and roll business. After beginning his career in the music industry in the 1960s, he co-founded American Talent International, one of the major rock and roll agencies of its time. His career brought him into the world of artists including Rod Stewart, The Eagles, ZZ Top, Deep Purple, Earth, Wind & Fire, KISS, Rush and Rory Gallagher, among many others. But this letter takes us much further back — before the music industry, the famous names and the extraordinary career — to the childhood and family experiences that shaped Ira’s life. It is an honest and deeply personal reflection on family, survival, resilience, and the things we carry with us long after we think we’ve left them behind. Ira’s remarkable life in the music business is also explored in his memoir, Once A King, Now A Prince, a rock and roll memoir about family, survival and his extraordinary journey from childhood to the centre