Isaac Tigrett

Isaac Tigrett (born 1947) of Jackson, Tennessee is a businessman best known as founder of Hard Rock Café and House of Blues.

Tigrett belonged to a well-to-do business family. He was raised in Tennessee until the age of fifteen. He is an alumnus of Centre College.

On June 14, 1971 he and Peter Morton started the first Hard Rock Café (HRC) restaurant in London's fashionable Mayfair district. The restaurant combined rock music, memorabilia related to rock 'n'; roll and American cuisine. The cafe-music-museum concept became very popular and soon the restaurant opened units in different parts of the globe. HRC was the first theme restaurant chain in the world. Tigrett bought Morton out, and took on the original Cafe in London along with rights to the name in most of the world including the US States East of the Mississippi; Morton had rights to the name in states West of the Mississippi and in Israel, Colombia and Australia.

Eventually both sold their interests in HRC to the Rank Organisation.

In 1992, Tigrett started the House of Blues Entertainment Inc (HOB) with partner, Dan Aykroyd and designer James Cafarelli. Harvard University was an initial investor in the business and a prototype was opened in Cambridge, MA. Soon after Disney and Andrew Filipowski invested in the venture. The focus was "Unity through Diversity" and through the HOB Foundation to use music and art in a model outreach program to inner city youth. HOB engaged in the dining and entertainment business using Blues as the core inspiration to all modern music forms. HOB, which started its operations on Thanksgiving Day by feeding the homeless, encouraged racial and spiritual harmony, and brought the neglected Blues culture into the mainstream. Differences of opinion between Tigrett and the other HOB board members over operations resulted in Tigrett leaving the venture in 1998.

In the late 1990s, Tigrett launched The Spirit Channel, an enterprise offering services related to spirituality and health through the Internet, traditional media and physical locations. The venture failed to take off. In 2004, Tigrett launched yet another new venture, the Bozo Project, focusing on the restaurant business.

Tigrett was influenced by his spiritual guide, Sri Sathya Sai Baba. [Andrew Buncombe, The Independent, " Hard Rock Cafe: The tribe that bought a billion dollar business", December 12 2006, [http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2056293.ece Available online] ] In the BBC documentary "The Secret Swami," Tigrett stated that he believed that there was truth to the rumors of Sai Baba's actions of pedophilia and sexual abuse towards some of his young male followers. He also stated that such behavior would not change his belief in Sai Baba. Though many criticized Tigrett's entrepreneurial style, even his competitors appreciated the way he introduced spirituality into the workplace. "Isaac is a creative genius, and he has worked very hard to do what he has done," said Brain Daneman, Executive Vice President and COO of the Motown Café.

HOB was sold to Live Nation in 2006 and only the Myrtle Beach venue remains in private hands owned by Andrew Filipowski.

In 1989 Tigrett married Maureen Cox Starkey, the ex-wife of Beatle drummer Ringo Starr. She died of leukemia in 1994. With great affection Isaac often introduced her as "My most authentic piece of rock and roll memorabilia." They had a daughter Augusta King Tigrett born January 4, 1987 in Dallas, Texas

References

External links

* [http://www.isaac-tigrett.com/ Personal page] Personal Page of Isaac Tigrett
* [http://www.isaac-tigrett.com/TigrettBio.html Official Bio]
* [http://icmr.icfai.org/casestudies/catalogue/Leadership%20and%20Entrepreneurship/LDEN034.htm] Management/Business Case Study on the Spiritual Leadership and Servant Leadership followed by Isaac Tigrett