Longtime WMMR host Pierre Robert has died at 70
The cause of death was not immediately known.
Longtime WMMR-FM host Pierre Robert, 70, was found dead in his Gladwyne home Wednesday.
Beasley Media Group, the station’s parent company, announced Mr. Robert’s death in a statement, calling him a “true radio icon.” The cause of Mr. Robert’s death is not yet known, though no foul play was suspected, CEO Caroline Beasley said.
“We all have heavy hearts today,” Beasley said. “Pierre’s unwavering love for music and his deep connection with listeners made him one of radio’s most enduring and beloved voices. He will be greatly missed.”
Station-mates Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison, of Preston & Steve fame, remembered Mr. Robert as an optimistic, comforting voice who lived WMMR’s “Everything That Rocks!” slogan. The pair planned to pay tribute to Mr. Robert on the air Thursday starting at 6 a.m.
“Pierre’s voice has been woven into the fabric of Philadelphia for more than 40 years,” the duo said in a statement. “WMMR was his pulpit, and he preached the gospel of rock n’ roll, and gave us all common ground to dance on.”
A native of Northern California, Mr. Robert joined WMMR as an on-air host in 1981. He arrived in the city after his previous station, San Francisco’s KSAN, switched to an “urban cowboy” format, prompting him to make the cross-country drive to Philadelphia in a Volkswagen van.
“I came because of a relationship,” he told The Inquirer last year. “I was in love. The love part didn’t work out, but the job part did.”
As a newly minted Philadelphian, Mr. Robert began working at a local health-food store as he interviewed for radio jobs around town, but found little luck initially. One day, while dining at Astral Plane, a long-closed restaurant formerly on Lombard Street, he introduced himself to WMMR program director Joe Bonnadonna and announcer Charlie Kendall, and despite getting on well with the pair, he learned there were no openings at the station.
But weeks later, he received a letter from Bonnadonna and interviewed for a job at the station during a concert by Philly rock band the Hooters at the Chestnut Cabaret. He soon started working in the station’s music library and office making $3.50 an hour, and later began appearing on the air.
He went on to become a prominent supporter of the Hooters, supporting the group over hundreds of shows in the decades since he first saw them. He last attended a Hooters show over the weekend, when the group played two nights at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
“My wife, Dallyn, and I, we’re like brother and sister with him,” Hooters drummer David Uosikkinen said. “It’s a tough one. He was a beautiful soul. I never met anyone like him.”
At the station, Mr. Robert initially hosted on the weekends, but quickly moved to WMMR’s midday slot — a position he held for more than four decades up until his death.
As a California transplant, Mr. Robert brought with him to Philadelphia a kind of “West Coast sweetness that was so apparent,” said Adam Weiner, of Philly rock band Low Cut Connie. That element made him distinctive among Philadelphia radio personalities and allowed Mr. Robert to emerge as a leader amid a then-crowded slate of voices on the city’s airwaves.
“He was just a truly kind, sweet human being and loving person, and that came through,” Weiner said. “Being a transplant — you know, when people convert, sometimes they become more into something than people that are native. He loved Philly, and he became an ambassador for the city.”
During his time at WMMR, Mr. Robert became one of the most beloved and trusted voices in local radio — and one of the city’s most recognizable residents. His shoulder-length hair and partially gray beard, especially when coupled with his trademark salutation of “Greetings, citizens!,” were well-known to generations of residents. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame in 2019.
Over the years, Mr. Robert’s hosting birthed a number of beloved features, including noontime “Workforce Blocks” and “Pierre’s Vinyl Cut,” as well as history lessons in the form of his “On This Day” segment. His run was also charitable, with Mr. Robert regularly hosting the AIDS Walk Philly and supporting MANNA’s Pie in the Sky fundraiser on the air.
“Pierre had a unique way of making everyone feel like he was talking directly to them,” said Ike Richman, a veteran Philadelphia music publicist who worked closely with Mr. Robert for more than 39 years. “He also knew how to talk up any artist and any show, and no one covered a show like Pierre. He took the listener with him into the room.”
Mr. Robert was a fan of the Grateful Dead, and when the band played its 50th show at the Spectrum in South Philadelphia in 1994, Jerry Garcia and the other band members would agree to participate in a banner-raising and preshow tribute only if Mr. Robert was the emcee.
Last year, Mr. Robert agreed to a contract that would have extended his time in the midday slot at WMMR for at least four more years. At the time, he told The Inquirer that he was “not finished.”
“Sometimes I’ll work with my producer Pancake recording specialty shows that go for six or seven hours. He asks, ‘Are we done?’ And I say, ‘No, it’s not quite done,’” Mr. Robert told The Inquirer in 2024. “That’s sort of how I feel about being on the radio. My mission is not complete yet.”