The 51-year-old rock fan who fell to his death during a weekend Goose concert at Madison Square Garden was a beloved married dad of two from Connecticut who was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife at the time, kin said.
Green-energy exec Paul Kueker got up to go to the bathroom before fatally plunging 150 feet from a balcony in the 300s section in the World’s Most Famous Arena while the event was in full swing shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, the day before Father’s Day, a report said.
Paul Kueker seen with his sister Kricket Kueker Kent in a photo posted to Facebook on July 7, 2020. Facebook/Patti Hoxsie Finelli
Paul Kueker was killed after falling inside Madison Square Garden during a Goose the Band concert on June 20, 2026. Chris Kornfeld via Fox 5 New YorkKueker’s wife was with him at the concert celebrating their anniversary but didn’t see her husband fall, said Kueker’s mother, Patricia Finelli, to the New York Daily News on Sunday.
“He had taken his wife to the Goose concert because their 25th anniversary is on Tuesday,” she told the outlet.
“He got up to go to the bathroom, and he didn’t come back,” Finelli said. “She was getting worried after 10 or 15 minutes. And he didn’t come back.”
Police officers eventually found Kristen in the stadium and told her what had happened, the mother said.
“He was the greatest kid in the whole wide world,” Finelli said through tears to The Post.
“He’d give you the shirt off his back.
“He has two children, a beautiful wife, and he took care of me like I was a piece of gold.”
Kueker with his son Garin, daughter Khloe and wife Kristen Lomme Kueker. Facebook/Patti Hoxsie FinelliWilliam Brown, general manager of Smartcon, where Kueker was a senior manager, said in a statement, “We are heartbroken by the sudden passing of Paul Kueker.
“Paul meant the world to everyone at Smartcon.
“He was an extraordinary person and a valued member of our team, and the loss is felt deeply across our entire company. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. He will be profoundly missed.”
Goose, a Connecticut-based jam band, was booked for a two-night gig at MSG as part of their summer tour and on their second night there when the tragedy struck.
They completed their full 16-song set around midnight Saturday, after the fall — later saying they were unaware of what happened till after the concert..
Kueker was the direction of operations for the energy management company Smartcon Solutions. Patti Finelli“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken to learn of the tragic event that occurred at tonight’s show,” the band said in a statement.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected. Thank you to the emergency personnel and venue staff who stepped in with care and support.”
The band took the stage for a concert in Central Park on Sunday evening and held a moment of silence for Kueker.
Saturday’s grim tragedy occurred just days after hometown hoops heroes the Knicks helped cement their NBA Finals win at MSG.
A message from Goose on the death of Kueker at MSG. Instagram/@goosethebandThe famed venue was the site of another fatal tragedy in 2023.
That’s when Ernest Vogliano, 61 — the son of a once-prominent Big Apple restaurateur — died in a freak fall after a Rangers game.
Vogliano was riding an escalator railing in MSG when he plunged two to three floors to his death.
