Brian Edwards

Since the 1980's, Brian Edwards - multi-award winning celebrity talent executive, producer, writer and occasional performer - has worked with many of the biggest names in the history of show business. A brief sampling includes: Donna Summer, Joan Rivers, Cindy Crawford, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, Farrah Fawcett, Shirley Jones, Naomi Judd, and Vanessa Williams. As a tribute to his work with the legendary Queen of Disco, Edwards was recently portrayed in the smash hit, Tony Award nominated Broadway show Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, which embarked on its' first U. S.

In 1985, he trusted his instincts and left the safety of his hometown for the bright lights of Hollywood.

Arranged for Donna Summer, the legendary "Queen of Disco" to receive her star on the "Hollywood Walk-Of-Fame" - 18 March 1992. Edwards worked as one of Summer's assistants for six years.

After working as an executive assistant to legendary five-time Grammy Award winner Donna Summer, for six years, Edwards landed a position in 1995 as the assistant to talent agent Betty Fanning, then Vice-President of Commercials at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills.

He also received Special Recognition Honors from the Recording Academy for his participation on the 1997 song "Carry On" by Donna Summer, which won the first Grammy ever presented in the category for Best Dance Recording, and for the 2014 audio book "Diary Of A Mad Diva" by Joan Rivers, which won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.

In 1998, he moved over to American Movie Classics (AMC) and WE: Women's Entertainment Networks as their Manager of Celebrity Talent for five years, where he served as Talent Executive / Talent Producer for three Emmy Award winning shows: In 2001, "Reel Models: The First Women of Film", hosted by: Barbra Streisand - featuring Susan Sarandon, Hilary Swank and Minnie Driver; In 2002 - "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel", hosted by Whoopi Goldberg; and in 2004, for the series "When I Was a Girl," narrated by: Charlize Theron and Kristin Davis. Other work includes Talent Executive / Talent Producer for over 30 CMT: Country Music Television specials.

Arranged for Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg to receive her star on the "Hollywood Walk-Of-Fame" on her birthday - 13 November 2001.

On behalf of Edwards' continued support of the pageant system in his home state, he was honored with "The 2003 Outstanding Career Achievement Award" from The Miss Louisiana USA Pageant celebrating his 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry. Held in Lafayette, LA in October 2002, the award was presented by Edwards' longtime friend Sabrina Lott-Miller who introduced an industry video tribute that included such stars as Joan Rivers, Daisy Fuentes, Ali Landry and Cindy Crawford.

Received the Andy Roddick Foundation's "2005 Distinguished Honoree Award" at the 5th Annual Charity Gala Event in Boca Raton, Florida.

Arranged for Vanessa Williams to receive her star on the "Hollywood Walk-Of-Fame" - 19 March 2007 in front of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Edwards first met Vanessa in September 1983 while in Atlantic City for the Miss America Pageant, where she was the first African American to win the title. The two remained friends over the years. In 2006, Edwards signed on as Vanessa's Client Relations Rep - based in Los Angeles.

In 2012, Edwards was honored by The International Press Academy in Beverly Hills, CA with the Satellite Award for "Outstanding Contribution to The Field of Entertainment" presented to him by longtime friend Cindy Crawford, becoming only the third recipient of this honor in the academy's history.

Edwards autobiography Enter Miss Thang, published in the fall of 2013, became a national best seller winning several awards along the way, including top honors at The National Indie Excellence Awards, The International Book Awards and the IBPA Awards, ultimately becoming the most honored LGBT non-fiction book of 2014.

Edwards also produced two highly acclaimed exhibits on iconic legends Donna Summer and Joan Rivers at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles: Donna Summer: Four Seasons of Love (June 2014 thru April 2015) and Joan Rivers: Can We Talk? (June 2015 thru September 2015) In September of 2015, Edwards served as a judge for the 95th Annual Miss America Pageant - a lifelong dream come true. And during that same week, he also orchestrated Vanessa Williams' triumphant return to the pageant 32 years after she made history as the first black woman to be crowned Miss America. Later that fall, he made a cameo in the independent feature, Tarnished Notes shot on location in North Carolina, in addition to making numerous appearances at lecture events across the country in support of Enter Miss Thang.

national tour in the fall of 2019.

In 2019, Edwards published his follow-up, titled, I Might Have Been Queen (And Other Things I Didn't Mention Before), filled with even more colorful stories laced with humor, chaos and inspiration.

In the spring of 2020, a bold new production of Summer featuring a stellar cast and creative team, premiered at the Santander Theatre in Sao Paulo, Brazil to rave reviews.

Affirming Edwards' stature and literary following, I Might Have Been Queen, garnered similar attention to receive a string of awards in 2020, including "Best LGBTQ Non-Fiction" and "Best Humor" at the International Book Awards and "Best Entertainment" from the National Indie Excellence Awards. Originally from the sleepy little town of Covington, Louisiana, Edwards always felt destined for something extraordinary.