Philadelphians -- wherever we are -- are shaken by the sudden passing of radio DJ Pierre Robert, who spent 44 straight years on WMMR, the city's main rock station.

'MMR was and remains THE Stones connection to Philly.

In 2013 I happened to stand next to him at the Saturday night Ronnie Wood/Mick Taylor Jimmy Reed tribute show in Manhattan. It was a packed crowd far back from the stage. We had to peer over 300 heads to see the band. He didn't try to press through the mob or seek VIP treatment. He was just another lone guy happy to be inside the door, not wanting to miss a second of it.

His human touch as one of the last talking DJs on radio knitted together the Philly rock music community in a way that will probably never be achieved again.

Everyone seems to have a Pierre Robert story in Philly, I'd love to read some from the Stones community on IORR.

That is very sad news! WMMR was my introduction to FM radio. Before that, all I listened to was top 40 AM radio. When I got my first FM radio and discovered WMMR, it opened up a whole new world of music to me.

Pierre Robert was my favorite DJ. I remember one afternoon he decided to play the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. I think he wanted to broaden our horizons, but people complained and he got yelled at by the station’s brass.

Pierre was very cool and was often seen at concerts around town.

RIP, Mr. Robert.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-10-30 06:32 by JadedFaded.

Back in the day, all we had was FM radio to hear rock n roll in all its forms. Pierre was at the center of the Philly scene. I first met him as a fellow big Stones fan while standing on crowded escalators and stairs exiting Madison Square Garden after one of the 1981 shows. I last saw him a few years ago introducing a Struts show in a Philly club.

HBK

Yes, it is a sad day for Philly as Pierre was a voice for the city in many ways! I will certainly miss his all-afternoon blocks of Stones for each of Mick and Keith's birthdays.

I met him on multiple occasions, the last time a bump into at last summer's Stones show in Philly. I also spoke to him multiple times as well when I called into his show. He was such a nice kind person, and he loved the Rolling Stones!!!

I guess the most interesting story that I have pertaining to Pierre was being on the same flight back to Philly from the 2019 Sones gig in Miami! That show was such a perplexing entity in itself as it was originally lined up as the tour opener, but due to the tour being rescheduled around Mick's heart issue it ended up being the tour closer. It then got even more interesting as it was rescheduled yet again this time due to an impending hurricane. I bet this is one of the few times that a concert was pushed forward a day earlier than planned. I personally had to do some serious juggling of my own just to make it to the show.

So anyway, I am on the plane back to Philly and as I am exiting there is the unmistakable Pierre with his trademark stripped beard. "Hey Pierre" I call out. We end up talking for quite a while about the show, The Stones, and music in general. It was a great conversation! He told me that he got to walk out onstage prior to the concert. Nice!!

As it turns out unbeknownst to either of us, that was Charlie's last live show and the last time that Brown Sugar was played live too.

A few years later Pierre was playing a tribute to Charlie on his birthday and I called into his show to make a request. We talked about that Miami show a bit. He wasn't aware that that was Charlie last gig. Once he realized that in fact it was we talked a bit about how that specific show was in a way an end of it's own.

I will miss your voice Pierre!! Cheers!!!!!

This photo was taken in 1998 in Toronto,
where Pierre interviewed Mick during the
Stones’ No Security tour for a national
radio special.

with Pierre 2009







Official No Security Interview

I remember listening to that interview on the way back to DC from Philly. Right around the Delaware-Maryland border, I lost the signal. It was so good, I thought about stopping.

I feel grateful to have grown up listening to WMMR in the '80s and '90s. One of the most significant and influential in FM history.

A few years ago he was interviewed in Philadelphia Magazine for his 40th anniversary of moving to Philly.

When asked the best three Philly concerts he had experienced in those years (he went to basically everything), his first two were 1) Live Aid in 1985 and 2) the Rolling Stones at the Tower Theatre in 2002.

Link

I hope this link works

[www.nytimes.com]