Stuart Galbraith, Founder & CEO of Kilimanjaro Live, has been announced as the 2025 recipient of the LIVEtime Achievement Award at the forthcoming LIVE Awards, which take place in association with Skiddle, at Troxy in London on Wednesday 10th December.
Attended by over 600 professionals from across the UK live music sector, the annual LIVE Awards recognise and celebrate individuals and organisations who have made a significant impact during the last 12 months.
The LIVEtime Achievement Award is the top honour of the evening and is presented to someone who has played a principal role in driving forward and improving the UK’s live music business, having dedicated much of their career to the sector.
This year’s recipient, Stuart Galbraith, has been a key player in the growth of UK live music over the last four decades.
Galbraith’s career began as a Promoter at Leeds University in 1980, staging bands including The Clash, Simple Minds and U2. In 1984 he joined MCP, where he stayed for 15 years working with artists including Simply Red, Def Leppard, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, U2, Simple Minds and AC/DC, and played a key role in the development of the Monsters of Rock Festival at Donington Park.
In 1999, SFX was created with Galbraith as a key founding member and Managing Director, helping to grow Live Nation that was created in 2005, a move that saw him promoting tours across arenas and stadiums and launching legendary festivals including Download, Wireless and Hyde Park (Hard Rock) Calling. In addition, iconic events such as Live8 in 2005 and Live Earth in 2007, saw Galbraith at the head of the organising team.
In 2008 Galbraith formed Kilimanjaro Live in partnership with AEG Live before it became an independent company in 2012, which has since expanded under its parent umbrella group, KMJ Entertainment, to house over twenty companies across all aspects of the industry including ticketing, festivals, spoken word, comedy, immersive experiences, family and theatrical. These brands include Regular Music, Singular, Fane, Flying Music, Gigantic, Myticket, Fane, Belladrum Festival, JAS Theatricals, FORM, Kontour, How To Academy and Arches London Bridge.
Stuart Galbraith said, ”Thank you to LIVE for honouring me with this LIVEtime Achievement Award. I am truly grateful to be recognised for the role I have played for the last four decades and will continue to play for many more years to come”.
Steve Lamacq, Chair of LIVE said, “Over the last 45 years, from when he first started putting on bands at Leeds University in 1980, Stuart Galbraith has become a bona fide legend in the UK live music industry. His relentless energy, passion and commitment to staging world class music events & incredible fan experiences with some of the biggest artists on the planet has seen him set the bar for others to reach. We are proud to recognise and honour his truly remarkable career with the 2025 LIVEtime Achievement Award.”
As LIVE’s primary annual fundraising event, all proceeds from the LIVE awards will go towards directly supporting our ongoing work engaging government on a range of sector critical issues and will help support our members to meet their sustainability goals while fostering a more diverse, equitable and inclusive working environment.
