Music entrepreneur Jaggers, producer of Elton John video, dies

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

Bobby Jaggers was barely old enough to go into a Las Vegas casino last year when he helped produce a video for Elton John's classic "Pinball Wizard" that is displayed on a large screen during the pop superstar's "The Red Piano" performances at Caesars Palace.

Jaggers also boxed in the amateur ranks while a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and did location searches for a European fashion magazine last summer.

Robert William "Bobby" Jaggers, the grandson of Robert Maheu, the top aide to late billionaire Howard Hughes, and a son of Caesars Palace Senior Vice President Jon Jaggers, died Sunday. He was 22.

Services for the native Las Vegan will be 12:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road.

"When my brother set his mind to doing something his goal was to be the best at it," Yvette Rasmussen said. "He had a very strong will and was mature beyond his years."

With virtually no experience in the music industry but a great love for music, Jaggers opened Jaggers Productions in Las Vegas and made the contacts that won him an opportunity to film a video to be used for a backdrop during Elton John's concerts.

In a 2003 credits list for "The Red Piano" shows, Jaggers Productions is listed as the local production company for the pop classic originally recorded by John in 1975. Michael Coldwell, spokesman for Caesars Entertainment, confirmed that Jaggers was a producer for the video.

Rasmussen said the video so impressed entertainment industry officials that ValCom Studios of Valencia, Calif., recently hired Jaggers as an executive for its new offices in Las Vegas.

Born Oct. 22, 1981, Jaggers, who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall, played on the Chaparral High School varsity basketball team. While in high school he suffered a serious hand injury while snowboarding that kept him out of school for half a year. Still he managed to graduate in 2001 at age 19.

Jaggers had some big shoes to fill, following his famous grandfather and highly regarded dad.

Mahue is the author of the 1992 book "Next to Hughes," which examines Hughes' Las Vegas gaming empire and Maheu's adventures as an FBI operative and CIA agent.

Jon Jaggers is a Clark High graduate who started his gaming career as a 21 dealer at Binion's Horsehoe and climbed the ranks to his top executive position at Caesars Palace.

Bobby Jaggers set out to make a name for himself early on.

In the fall of 2001 Jaggers enrolled at UNLV, where he joined the boxing team and won his only two amateur collegiate fights as a light heavyweight, his family said.

Last year he produced the John video before leaving for Europe to do casting work and location searches for photo shoots for Vogue, his family said.

In mid-February, thousands of locals and tourists got to see his video when John began a series of performances in Caesars' 4,000-seat Colosseum.

In addition to his sister, father and grandfather, all of Las Vegas, Jaggers is survived by two brothers, Tommy Jaggers of Newport Beach, Calif., and Jimmy Jaggers of Las Vegas, and a grandmother, Emma Jaggers of Las Vegas.

Jaggers was preceded in death by his mother, Christine Mahue Jaggers in 2001.