Kevin Lyman

Founder of Vans Warped Tour

Kevin Lyman is the Founder and Producer of the Vans Warped Tour. His most notable live production and live music festival series, which attracted about 750,000 people annually and was the longest-running North American festival concert tour.

The Vans Warped Tour launched many of today's most famous artists, including Eminem, Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, Blink-182, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and Bebe Rexha. The tour also featured other big-name acts like No Doubt, Ice T, Avenged Sevenfold, and Limp Bizkit who played to large crowds before reaching global fame.

In the Fall Semester of 2018, Lyman started teaching at USC's Thornton School of Music as an Associate Professor.

He has been an industry professional for 37 years, having worked his way up from throwing backyard concerts to producing festivals like Rockstar Mayhem, Country Throwdown, Sprite Liquid Mix, and It’s Not Dead, among numerous others.

He is co-owner of SideOneDummy Records, and has managed acts like Less Than Jake, H20, and the Ataris.

Lyman’s philosophy has always been to include three things in all events he produces: music, education, and philanthropy.

His philanthropic work has included founding the Unite the United Foundation, a charitable organization that has raised over $1 million for various non-profits. In 2014, the Vans Warped Tour attempted to set a Guinness World Record for Largest Food Drive in 24-Hour period at a single location. In 2018, Kevin Lyman focused on the opioid education initiative, FEND (Full, Energy, No, Drugs).

For his philanthropic efforts, Lyman was recognized in 2009 as the Billboard Touring Awards Humanitarian of the Year. He was an honoree in 2011 at the Grammy/MusiCares MAP Fund gala, and was inducted in 2012 into the Top Dog Touring Hall of Fame at the Tour Link Conference. In 2016, he was given the Humanitarian of the Year award by the T.J. Martell Foundation at their annual Family Day.