CLEVELAND, Ohio — Legendary Cleveland concert promoter Myron “Mike” Belkin Sr. has died.

A source with Live Nation, the company that took over Belkin Productions, the company launched by Mike and his brother, Jules, confirmed the 83-year-old’s death. His son, Michael Belkin Jr., said that his father’s death was a result of complications of his fight with Alzheimer’s disease.

In an interview in 2017 to promote his memoir, “Mike Belkin: Socks, Sports, Rock & Art,” the one-time professional baseball player told The Plain Dealer he was an admitted pack rat.

“I never have thrown away any press clippings, anything . . . and this goes from high school through college through professional baseball, I saved everything,’’ he said, laughing. “I saved from 1966 my itineraries, which covered concerts that I had booked.

“I have and still have quite a bit of information concerning what I did in my life, and [things that] remembered those early years,’’ he said.

“I enjoyed every moment of everything I did, whether it was managing my bands, the Michael Stanley Band, Donnie Iris . . . and booking and promoting concerts,’’ Belkin said in that interview. “I like my days to be full.’’

And they were full from the get-go, with both brothers promoting concerts, and Mike also managing bands like the James Gang, MSB, Donnie Iris & the Cruisers, Mark Avsec, Wild Cherry and more, and creating Cleveland legends like the World Series of Rock at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, events that still can get ’70s-era concert fans gabbing.

“The reality is that Cleveland was always in those days ahead of the curve,’’ said Belkin’s son and namesake in a telephone interview. “Radio played a part — WIXY started it and MMS was an integral player.

“But the reality is that you had a market that was hungry for new music, and you had promoters who were professional and hard-working and willing to take a risk,’’ said the younger Belkin, who followed in his father’s footsteps with Belkin Productions and now heads its successor’s Cleveland office, Live Nation.

“That was far from the case in other markets [that] had fly-by-night guys and guys who didn’t want to take a risk on new music,’’ he said. “Cleveland was fortunate in that way and benefited to become the self-proclaimed rock ‘n’ roll capital and translated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.’’

Indeed, while there is much credit to distribute for the museum opening its doors here in 1995, it was the Belkins and their industrywide reputation that helped secure the honor. But it’s interesting that the Belkin brothers essentially created an industry where there was not one.

“The nutshell is my father had a family discount store and wanted to draw people in, so he worked with a guy who brought entertainers to the store,’’ the younger Belkin said.

“My father got the bright idea to present it for real at the Music Hall, with the Four Freshmen and the New Christy Minstrels, and from there talent representatives saw somebody willing to take a risk,’’ he said.

Next step was a Mamas and Papas concert, which ended up not happening. Young Belkin said his father and Jules deemed that “an expensive” lesson but pressed on, with a jazz festival after that.

“From there, they were off and running,’’ he said.

His father also made a name for himself as a manager of bands and artists like Michael Stanley.

“He’s meant everything to me,’’ said Stanley in a telephone call. “He’s been one of my dearest and closest friends for almost 50 years, and that comes before the part where we spent working together professionally.

“He was the reason the Michael Stanley Band was able to go on for as long as it did,’’ Stanley said. “He was always 100 percent supportive of me.’’

The Belkin brothers did it first and they did it right, Stanley said.

“They were everything [to Cleveland],’’ he said. “They were the pioneers of it. Along with four or five other people, they were making it up as they were going along.’’

Artists and bands wanted to play here and work with the Belkins because they knew they’d be treated right and fairly, Stanley said.

“They were a Midwest powerhouse,’’ said Carlo Wolff, who co-wrote Belkin’s memoir with him. “[They] helped put Cleveland on the map when rock ‘n’ roll was poised to become a commercial force in the ’60s. They recognized a trend and rode the wave of that trend.

Mike and Jules Belkin sold their company in 2001, reportedly for $11 million, but they and what they did for Cleveland and the business itself remain legendary.

“The Belkin name is still a force in the music industry, even though the music industry has changed into something unlike anything it was when they started,’’ Wolff said. “They helped define the rock ‘n’ roll business.’’

Jeannie Emser, a one-time Plain Dealer reporter who went on to become a marketing director for Belkin Productions and currently is in marketing at Playhouse Square, was deeply affected by the news of Belkin’s passing.

“I first met Mike and Jules as a PD reporter, doing phone interviews/reviews for acts presented by their newly formed promoter business,’’ Emser wrote in an email. “Later, as their marketing director, an exciting time unfolded: our first World Series of Rock concert; first rock concert (Elton John) at the new [Richfield] Coliseum; and sundry concerts like Bruce Springsteen and KISS at the yet-to-be-restored Allen Theatre. [Those were] concerts that helped save Playhouse Square from the wrecking ball.

“Despite the stresses of the entertainment industry and the acts Mike managed, rarely did you see him in a bad mood; he always made it a point to be a friend to the artists, not merely as a promoter, to make it personal,’’ she wrote.

“At the first Doors concert at Public Auditorium I vividly remember Mike and Jules suddenly appearing at stage’s edge, wildly motioning me to come forward from my second-row seat,’’ she said. “They reached down and yanked me up by both arms, thus rescuing me from an advancing horde of fans rushing toward the stage which forced an early end to the show.”

Mark Avsec, a Cleveland attorney and musician who played with Wild Cherry and Donnie Iris & the Cruisers, added his thoughts on Belkin’s passing in another email:

“Mike managed me for more than 40 years, from the time I was a member of Wild Cherry (‘Play That Funky Music’), as someone who broke into producing records and writing songs (Donnie Iris, Bon Jovi), etc., and thereafter,’’ wrote Avsec, who never really left his hometown and remains here as vice chairman of the Benesch Friedlander law firm. “And then after I became a lawyer, our relationship continued on a different level. I probably talked to Mike at least three times a week for more than 40 years until he became sick.

“Mike was a guy who was a success at everything he tackled. He was a professional baseball player during a time when professional baseball players did not make great money, then he (along with Jules) decided to be concert promoters, and they became the best in the region,’’ Avsec wrote.

“Personally, besides being my manager for so many years, he was a great friend to me, really like a second father, who was always there for me to provide guidance and counsel,’’ Avsec wrote. “He helped me get over some rough patches in my life. I admired and looked up to him. I will miss him so much.”

“I can’t do my best unless my heart is in it,’’ said the elder Belkin in that 2017 interview. “I’ve been fortunate with Michael Stanley and Donnie Iris — they’re just wonderful people and easy to work with.

“They have my heart, so I put my heart and soul into them,’’ he said.

And into Cleveland.

Arrangements for Belkin are pending and will be released at a later time.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.