Biography:

William Pierre Robert (/ˈroʊˈbɛər/; August 1, 1955 – October 29, 2025) was an American radio disc jockey and on-air personality for WMMR in Philadelphia. He spent 44 years with the station from 1981 until his death in 2025.

Robert was WMMR’s most identifiable personality, and was sometimes described as a hippie by locals. He was known for addressing his listeners as “citizens”, and saying “great day in the morning!”

Robert holds significant stature in the American rock music industry, where he is held in high esteem by rock musicians and groups, including Jon Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, and Eddie Vedder, many of whom granted Robert rare interviews or appeared in person on his program.[1][2][3]

Early life

Pierre Robert was born August 1, 1955, in Truckee, California.

Career

Robert began his radio career at 94.9 KSAN-FM in San Francisco, one of the country’s first progressive rock stations. When KSAN changed its format to an Urban Country and Western format in the early 1980s, Robert assumed the on-air name “Will Robertson” for a brief period of time because he was opposed to the new format.[4]

Not long after, Robert drove a friend to school in Philadelphia in his 1970 Volkswagen van, nicknamed Minerva,[5] which then had bald tires. He sent 93.3 WMMR a demo tape but was initially turned down for a position with the station, and took a job at Essene, a health food store and vegetarian restaurant. He later had a reading by a palm reader on South Street, who told him, “you’re gonna get a letter very soon”. He returned to find a letter from Joe Bonadonna, then WMMR’s station manager, indicating there was an opening. Robert joined WMMR in 1981.

Robert held several positions at WMMR, including broadcasting during morning, overnight, and midday shifts. His latest time slot was from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., though his program occasionally started late or ran longer, an anomaly he described as “Pierre Standard Time.”

Features of his show included the “Coffee Break Music Marathon”, “Pierre’s Planner”, and the “Work Force Blocks”, during which he played three or four songs by a particular artist based on listener requests.

In the 1980s, Reginald the Butler joined Pierre in kicking off his work force blocks by ringing his lunchtime bell.

Robert also featured the “Vinyl Cut”, where he plays a track from one of the many vinyl records in the WMMR archive.

He was also known to play all 18 minutes and 20 seconds of Arlo Guthrie‘s “Alice’s Restaurant” multiple times during his annual Thanksgiving broadcast.

Robert admitted that he did not follow Philadelphia sports, which was unusual in the sports-obsessed city.[opinion] He typically referred to all Philadelphia sports teams as “The Boys in Blue” regardless of the actual team colors. As a running joke, he was known to say the phrase “Sports Up!”, mostly during his overlap towards the end of the Preston and Steve show in the morning.[6]

In January 2024, Robert signed a multi-year contract extension with WMMR.[7]

Death

Robert was found dead at his home on October 29, 2025.[8]

Credits:

Wikipedia