It’s a day that ends in a y, so you know there’s trouble at Musicares.
The Grammy charity does so much for musicians in terms of health and emergency assistance. But there’s always something going on behind the scenes in the executive office.
It turns out that over Memorial Day weekend, CEO Laura Segura left very quietly after five years. No reason was given, and the departure of Segura — who was making around $400,000 a year — was kicked into a news dump that escaped notice.
Today, Musicares appointed her interim successor, Theresa Wolters, to replace Segura. Wolters was already at Musicares, working as Vice President of Health & Human Services since 2022.
Musicares hasn’t posted a Form 990 tax return since mid-2023. And that one has a lot of odd entries including this one, about a filing that took place under Segura’s run:
According to that filing, which covered August 1, 2022-July 31, 2023, Musicares’ fundraising events were in the red for $2.5 million. The 2022 Musicares Person of the Year dinner, normally held in Los Angeles, took place in Las Vegas, with Joni Mitchell as honoree.
Another oddity: The filing also listed $57,432 for “professional fundraising fee” — a line that in previous years was $0.
So, on we go. More to come, I’m sure. Musicares for a long time was headed with much success by Dana Tomarken, who settled a wrongful termination lawsuit in 2019 after a contentious fight.
Again, Musicares is a much needed organization in the music world, dispensing millions to needy recipients. But their internal problems have become something of legend at this point.
Last year’s Musicares Person of the Year event in Los Angeles honored The Grateful Dead despite much of the band not being alive anymore. There’s no information on how that went financially. This year’s honoree(s) have not been named so far. The Musicares dinner takes place on the Friday of Grammy Awards weekend.
More to come, I’m sure.
