The 23rd Annual Parnelli Awards were held on Friday, January 24 during NAMM 2025 in Anaheim, CA. The awards honor pioneering, influential professionals and their contributions, including individuals, companies, and game-changing products for the live event Industry.
And the winners are:
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Malcolm Weldon
- Visionary Award: Roy Bickel
- Audio Innovator Award: Dave Rat
- NextGen Award: Sarah Kufel
- Lighting Company of the Year: Bandit Lites (Creed)
- Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year: Technical Productions, Inc.
- The Nook Schoenfeld Lighting Designer of the Year: John Featherstone (Hans Zimmer)
- Lighting Director of the Year: Cosmo Wilson (AC/DC)
- Production Designer of the Year: Abigail Rosen Holmes (Phish at Sphere)
- Sound Company of the Year: Clair Global (Morgan Wallen)
- Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year: Brown Note Productions
- FOH Mixer of the Year: Dave Natale (The Rolling Stones)
- Monitor Mixer of the Year: Ian Beveridge (Foo Fighters)
- Audio System Tech of the Year: Adam Smith (Foo Fighters)
- Video Production Company of the Year: Solotech (Adele in Munich)
- Video Director of the Year: Colleen Wittenberg (Hozier)
- Media Content Creator of the Year: Moment Factory (Phish at Sphere)
- Staging Company of the Year: TAIT (Megan Thee Stallion)
- Rigging Company of the Year: ARS Entertainment Rigging (WWE)
- Set Construction Company of the Year: TAIT (Bad Bunny)
- Pyro/Special Effects Company of the Year: Strictly FX (Jelly Roll)
- The Patrick Stansfield Production Manager of the Year: Zito (Green Day)
- The Patrick Stansfield Tour Manager of the Year: Laura Strayer (Alanis Morissette)
- Coach Company of the Year: Beat The Street Band & Crew Bussing
- Trucking Company of the Year: Upstaging
- Freight Forwarding Company of the Year: Rock-It Global
- Indispensable Technology – Lighting: Robe iFORTE LTX
- Indispensable Technology – Audio: DiGiCo Quantum 326 Digital Console
- Indispensable Technology – Video: Tyler Truss GTV Video Truss
- Indispensable Technology – Staging & Effects: Mountain Productions MTN Weather Module
Cosmo Wilson, who also won two Pinnacle Awards at the Live Production Summit in Palm Springs this year for both lighting designer and lighting director of the year, also won a Parnelli Awardfor lighting director of the year for AC/DC. "I won the same award 10 years ago in 2015, and at that time, I would’ve never dreamt that 10 years later I would again be on the Parnelli stage accepting the same award! It gives me so much joy to still feel relevant! I am fortunate to do what I love to do, and work with the great bands I get to work with, but I am sincerely humbled and honored to win these awards it means so much to me. First of all, I am always honored just to be nominated in a field full of the top lighting designers and directors in the business," he says.