David Edward Byrd, who created psychedelic posters for Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Grateful Dead shows and for such Broadway productions as Follies, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar and Little Shop of Horrors, has died. He was 83.
Byrd died Monday at a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, rep Jerry Digney announced. Jolino Beserra, his partner of 40 years, said on Facebook that he died of pneumonia.
One of the foremost graphic artists of 20th century pop culture, Byrd did lots of work for rock promoter Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, which opened in the East Village in Manhattan in 1968, and designed a poster for the original Woodstock festival (it turned out it wasn’t used when the event was moved).
He designed posters for The Rolling Stones’ tour of the U.S. in 1969 and The Who’s performance of their rock opera Tommy at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1971 and album covers for Lou Reed’s Sally Can’t Dance in 1974 and the members of KISS in 1978.
He also worked with such other acts as Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly, Frank Zappa, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Ravi Shankar, Traffic, Prince and Van Halen, and his Broadway résumé included posters for Murder Among Friends, The Robber Bridegroom and The Grand Tour.
Born on April 4, 1941, in Cleveland, Tennessee, Byrd was raised in Miami Beach, Florida, before he attended Carnegie-Mellon, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For a dozen years starting in 1990, he taught art at the Pratt Institute in New York.
After moving to Los Angeles, Byrd created artwork for the Mark Taper Forum and Pasadena Playhouse, among other venues; was an illustrator for Warner Bros.; and teamed with author J.K. Rowling to create visuals for the Harry Potter films.
A retrospective of his work can be seen in the 2023 book Poster Child: The Psychedelic Art & Technicolor Life of David Edward Byrd.
