Rockers We’ve Lost In 2013: Montreux Jazz Festival Founder ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs

The founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival, Claude Nobs, has died. Once immortalized in song by Deep Purple, 'Funky Claude' passed away on Jan. 10 from complications due to injuries from a cross-country skiing accident on Christmas Eve.

Nobs founded the festival in 1967, which would host a wide variety of acts throughout the years. As the lyric of 'Smoke On The Water states, "Funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out the ground” -- describing Nobs' efforts to save fans from a fire that broke out during a Frank Zappa concert in Dec. 1971 at the Montreux Casino.