Former IQ news editor Jon Chapple passes away
Chapple, who oversaw the launch of IQ Index and the ILMC Futures Forum, has passed away aged 37 after a battle with cancer
News By Ciaran Donnelly | 28 September 2026
Former IQ news editor Jon Chapple has passed away aged 37, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Chapple worked as IQ’s news editor from January 2016 to August 2021, in which time he oversaw the launch of IQ‘s daily news service, Index, and played a key role in relaying critical information to the live music business during the Covid pandemic.
He was also part of the agenda team for the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), and in March 2019 helped launch a new one-day event at ILMC for young live music professionals, Futures Forum.
Chapple was diagnosed with stage-four bowel cancer in January 2022, aged 32. In May 2023, he launched a fundraising campaign, hoping to raise £75,000 to receive cancer vaccines in Germany, after being denied further surgery via the NHS.
“Jon was a hugely talented, warm, and funny individual who played a major role in IQ‘s development for many years. If you needed an example of how highly Jon was regarded, when he started a GoFundMe page in 2023 to pay for cancer treatment, the business kindly rallied around to contribute over £100,000 within days,” said ILMC managing director Greg Parmley.
“Jon was a tenacious journalist, and he battled his illness with that same strength of will until the very end. The whole ILMC team is incredibly sad to hear of his passing.”
Around the same time, Chapple also wrote a comment piece on his journey since leaving IQ and on his experience with the disease.
“The whole ILMC team is incredibly sad to hear of his passing”
In 2019, Chapple was named music business journalist of the year at the International Music Journalism Awards (IMJA). And in 2023, he was recognised among Inavate’s 40 Under 40 for the EMEA region.
Prior to joining IQ, he was deputy editor of audio industry title PSNEurope, and also wrote for the European Arena Yearbook, the International Ticketing Yearbook, the Spanish Live Music Yearbook (Anuario de la Música en Vivo), Genius!, PSNLive, Shindig!, PopMatters and various Titan Magazines titles.
Following his time at IQ, Chapple worked in live event communications at 3WM Communications, a boutique pro-AV PR agency.
His book, Sri Krishna Prem: A Wing and a Prayer, a biography of the British-born guru and yogi, was published by Blazing Sapphire Press in December 2024.
Chapple is survived by his wife Nikki and their baby, Winifred.
A celebration of life service will be held at Southend Crematorium at 2pm on Thursday 15 October.
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