Nashville music industry veteran Joe Boyland passed away earlier this week at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. He was 61. Boyland moved to Nashville in 1980 and worked with Judds manager Woody Bowles before founding Hit List Music in 1986. He subsequently worked with a host of artists including Celine Dion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Van Zant, Devonsquare, Robert Plant and Laura Branigan. Songs from his Hit List catalog were recorded by a wide range of artists including Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Billy Squier and Peter Wolf. Boyland also managed Bad Company for a few years in the mid-‘90s. Most recently, through his Nashville-based company, Big Street Entertainment, he produced the debut album for southern rockers Swampdawamp.
