Bill Graham (promoter)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide. (November 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Bill Graham" promoter – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Bill Graham
Bill Graham, circa 1990
Born	Wulf Wolodi Grajonca (1931-01-08)January 8, 1931 Berlin, Germany
Died	October 25, 1991(1991-10-25) (aged 60) Near Vallejo, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Helicopter crash
Other names	Uncle Bobo
Occupation(s)	Businessman, musical impresario
Years active	1960s–1991; his death
Organization	Bill Graham Presents
Spouse	Bonnie MacLean (divorced)
Children	3, including 1 stepchild

Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a German impresario and rock concert promoter.

In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and in 1965, began to manage the San Francisco Mime Troupe.^[1] He had teamed up with local Haight Ashbury promoter Chet Helms to organize a benefit concert, then promoted several free concerts. This eventually turned into a profitable full-time career and he assembled a talented staff. Graham had a profound influence around the world, sponsoring the musical renaissance of the 1960s from its epicenter in San Francisco. Chet Helms and then Graham made famous the Fillmore and Winterland Ballroom; these turned out to be a proving grounds for rock bands and acts of the San Francisco Bay area including the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin,^[2] who were first managed, and in some cases developed, by Helms.