Publicist Joe Dera, who spent his career shaping the careers of music legends including Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Billy Joel and Elton John, died on Oct. 10 at age 74.
Dera and his family were Dutch immigrants who moved to Clifton in 1956. He attended Clifton High School and County College of Morris, where he started his journey in the music industry when he wrote for the school newspaper and landed an interview with songwriter Robert Palmer. He eventually became Palmer’s press agent.
He climbed the industry’s ladder, going from hand-delivering singles to radio stations when he worked for Track Records to forming his own public relations company, Dera & Associates.
Dera’s list of celebrity clients is long. He was Paul McCartney’s spokesperson for 20 years and started working with David Bowie in 1983.
Publicist Joe Dera, right, with Les Paul, left, and Paul McCartney. Dera was McCartney’s spokesman for over 20 years. Dera, who grew up in New Jersey, died on Oct. 10, 2025.
Dera described his proudest moment in an interview with the Mississippi newspaper the Clarion Ledger. He orchestrated a plan that created pandemonium at Bowie’s Madison Square Garden performance in 1983. He convinced Bowie to cancel the phone-in ticket service, causing fans to wrap around the New York City streets for a chance to get tickets to see the iconic singer.
Before creating his own firm, Dera worked for the talent agency The Wartoke Concern and then the prestigious PR firm Rogers & Cowan. He spent his time working in the rumbling streets of New York City, but when he finished his day, he would return home to the Montclair house where he lived for about 20 years, said Chris Roslan, who was a partner with Dera at his PR firm.
Dera’s company was a magnet for music stars. Dera represented a list including Queen, Elton John, ZZ Top, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, Ray Davies, Les Paul and Rick Springfield, along with many others.
His clients were not only musicians. His firm represented the National Geographic Society, PBS, Hard Rock Cafe, The History Channel and the BBC.
At the end of his illustrious career, he named employees Roslan and Eileen Campion as partners, renaming the company Dera, Roslan & Campion, Inc. The company today is now called Roslan & Associates Public Relations.
“He was a brilliant thinker, a great PR man and a great mentor to many people,” said Roslan, who began working with Dera in 1994. “He inspired confidence and creativity in me that I still carry with me today.”
Dera rubbed shoulders with some of the most famous people in the world, but he knew to keep his relationship with his clients on a professional basis. He once told photographer Bill Bernstein: “No matter how close you get [to celebrities], they’re not your friends.”
Dera took a different approach with his employees, and Roslan described an intimate setting at his firm. He said Dera kept in touch with many of his coworkers from nearly two decades earlier.
He “fostered a real family relationship with his company,” Roslan said.
Dera retired in 2016 and then moved to historic Bradshaw House in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Case, his son, Samuel Mulford Dera, and his sister, Yvonne Dera Edwards.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ native Joe Dera, publicist to music legends, dies at 74
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