Celebrities We've Lost 2025

Aria

Pierre was a radio legend. He’d been on air since 1981, so almost anyone who ever lived in the Philadelphia region and listened to rock knew who he was. The man was so beloved by locals that any time he was covering a concert, the line to meet him would be almost as long as the line the meet the band. His love for music was legendary, as was his hilariously painted van “Minerva”, which was older than I am. His complete inability to keep to a schedule became a running joke that his audience dubbed “Pierre Standard Time” and his radio show frequently ran over just because he was jamming out and having a good time. He founded charities to fight food insecurity, launched city-wide holiday traditions, promoted small local bands, was willing to use his platform to cut off musicians who took extremist views or did a Philly audience dirty, and was always, always happy to stop and snap a photo with listeners.

For folks in Philly who love music, this one’s a kick in the teeth.

helvetica

@Aria My mother is touting a picture of him holding me as a baby, today.

I’m gonna miss that dude! I rarely go to fancy restaurants, but I feel like every time I ever do… he’s there, out with one or more beautiful twinks. smh. single tear drop.

Aria

@helvetica said in Celebrities We've Lost 2025:

@Aria My mother is touting a picture of him holding me as a baby, today.

I’m gonna miss that dude! I rarely go to fancy restaurants, but I feel like every time I ever do… he’s there, out with one or more beautiful twinks. smh. single tear drop.

I met him a couple of times and was just showing a friend the photo of me and @insomniac meeting him at a standing room only Green Day show, like, ten years ago. I didn’t realize he was live when the pic was snapped. He put me on air talking about how I’d been listening since I was 14 and when I was off at college and they weren’t broadcasting online yet, my mom’d put the phone up to the radio on Thanksgiving Day so we could sing “Alice’s Restaurant” all together and horribly off-key.