Get To Know Chelsea's New Director, Barbara Charone, Madonna's Former PR And Rolling Stones Confidant

Chelsea logo. (Photo: Instagram @chelseafc)

JAKARTA - A management reshuffle has been carried out by the new owner of Chelsea. There is one name that catches the eye.

Chelsea's new director, Barbara Charone, is known to have been a leading publicist in the music world for more than 40 years. The 70-year-old American has worked as a publicist for legendary singers Madonna, Rod Stewart and Keith Richards.

He was also a confidant of the Rolling Stones following drug arrests in Canada in the 1970s.

Currently, Barbara has her own agency known as MBC. The agency was founded in 2000 managing bands such as the Foo Fighters, Depeche Mode, and singer-only writer Lewis Capaldi, and many more.

In the midst of her various activities as a publicist, Barbara has still made time on her weekends for the Blues for more than three decades. He regularly makes visits to Stamford Bridge to cheer on the Premier League giants.

He even had a hand in the song Blue Day, which is the Blues' anthem in the FA Cup, Blue Day. The song was released as a single by Madness vocalist Suggs in the 1990s and briefly peaked at number 22 on the UK Single Chart.

"They want to get two fans on the board," Barbara recently told The Big Issue.

"It's like a lot of things in life, a lot of luck involved. They wanted a woman and they approached me, and it was definitely nothing to think about. It's very exciting," he added.

Last week the Blues officially confirmed Barbara was serving as a director on the board led by Boehly. He is with Jonathan Goldstein as CEO of Cain International, as well as Times columnist and Conservative colleague Daniel Finkelstein, who is also a Chelsea fan.

Barbara herself is a fanatical Blues supporter. He has been a season ticket holder for several years.

When Chelsea won their first European Champions League in 2012 in Munich, Barbara was in the stands. At that time the Blues brought home the 'Big Ear' trophy after beating the hosts Bayern Munich.

Despite his love of the beautiful game of football, Charone has cemented his reputation as "the most powerful music publicist in England".

Barbara started her career as a music journalist in her homeland before becoming a publicist in the music world. Prior to moving to the UK in 1974 and starting to write for (now defunct) Sounds magazine, as a freelancer for Rolling Stone, and was one of the first female writers for NME.

He is a huge fan of The Rolling Stones whom he has interviewed several times. From there he managed to build a strong bond with guitarist Keith Richards. The relationship came to fruition in 1977, when the wild rocker was arrested in Toronto, Canada for possession of heroin.

Barbara then brought the story back to life in her brilliant memoir 'Access All Areas'. The memoir tells a lot about his efforts to help Keith, as well as writing his book.

"In 1976 I had a good relationship with Keith, having interviewed him on many occasions. I finally asked him if I could write a book about him, and I was very surprised and happy that he said yes," wrote Barbara.

"Keith suggested I come to Toronto in early 1977 for a Rolling Stones show at the El Mocambo club. I flew to Canada at the end of February but unfortunately the Canadian Equestrian Police reached Keith's hotel and arrested him for possession of heroin," continued Barbara.