Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ charts the rise and fall of the eponymous band. The story is traced through the late 60s to early 70s to give us the origins of the band. While Daisy Jones chases her dreams in a different city, a group of boys from a small town tries to make it big in the music scene. Their lives are changed when they meet a man who is familiar with the music circuit and gives them invaluable advice. This man is Rod Reyes who becomes the manager of the Dunne Brothers, later, the Six. Considering that the band in the show is said to have been inspired by real-life rock bands from the 70s, it naturally makes us wonder if their manager is also a real person. Let’s find out.
Rod Reyes is Not Based on a Real Tour Manager
No, Rod Reyes is not based on a real manager of a rock band. While the story of the show might be inspired by real-life bands, the characters and the plot of the show are completely fictional. The purpose of Reyes in the show is not only to help the band find their footing in the business but also to keep them from falling apart when things get tough. Considering that the band Daisy Jones and the Six is supposed to have been inspired by Fleetwood Mac, one can say that Reyes’s role in the story could be a reflection of the people who have managed the real-life band over the years.
Fleetwood Mac started with Mick Fleetwood, who has been one of the few constant things about the band since its inception. While talking about his role in the band with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Fleetwood said that one of his main jobs was to keep the band from falling apart, especially during the seventies when every single member had been going through tumultuous times in their lives.
At the beginning of the band’s journey, Fleetwood also acted as the manager. But even later, he found it his responsibility to keep the band going through its roughest of times. He said that he always tried to keep “some semblance out of panic or insecurity, to have this not stop” and make the band a “safe harbor” for everyone. The same role fell on the people who managed the bands over the years, witnessing the departure and arrival of members, and navigating the complex nature of their relationships.
Marty Hom has served as Fleetwood Mac’s manager, along with other stars like Barbara Streisand, Lionel Richie, Shakira, and Janet Jackson, to name a few. He said that working with the bands and the singers creates a relationship that goes further than professional capacity. “If you’ve toured with somebody long enough, they are your family. And you’re kind of like the dad who takes care of them, and they depend on you,” he said, in conversation with Billboard.
Despite the challenges that they face in their line of work, Hom said that it’s the passion for the job that keeps them going. “I think there is a sense of camaraderie. It’s like when you all go on the road together and you have this great team of people and you pull off a show and you kind of look at each other because everybody on that tour played a small part in accomplishing that show,” he said. With all this in mind, it looks like even though Rod Reyes is not a real person, he represents the real struggles of tour managers.
