David Edward Byrd | Playbill

David Edward Byrd

In 1968, Mr. Byrd was hired by rock promoter Bill Graham to create promotional posters for the Fillmore East Ballroom in Manhattan's East Village. Known as The Church of Rock and Roll, Fillmore East was one of the most influential rock and roll venues in New York, and Mr. Byrd quickly became one of the most recognizable poster artists in the industry, creating iconic designs to promote Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, The Grateful Dead, and more. In 1969, Mr. Byrd was called upon to design the poster for Woodstock, but his original design ended up unused due to the festival location changing while Mr. Byrd was out of town. Regardless, Mr. Byrd became a trusted collaborator for many of the artists who came through the East Village, and when Fillmore East was forced to close in 1971, Mr. Byrd remained in the rock scene for some time as an independent agent.

Read Full Obituary
  • Also Known As: David Byrd
  • Born: Apr 04, 1941
  • Death: Feb 03, 2025
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!