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Not Quite A Prince
Not quite a Prince, but a king in another realm. A Prince born in born in South Norwood, London, on 5th April, 1935. We knew of Peter Grant, but it was left to Heritage member Sapper James to place the final piece in the jigsaw. Heavyweight Peter Grant went from sheet metal worker to employment by Paul Lincoln as a bouncer at the 2 I’s Coffee Bar. Mixing with the wrestling clientele around the café, and with an appropriate physique he too turned his hand (and feet) to professional wrestling. Grant was a giant, a bearded giant weighing over twenty stones. Not a man to argue with.
Sapper James made the link to Prince Mario Alassio. It was a short career that lasted only a few years and seems to have made little impact.
It is in another realm that Peter found his fame. Peter Grant went on to greater things and success as the manager of Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, the Animals the Yardbirds and ultimately Led Zeppelin, turning them into one of the biggest rock bands of the 1970s. Peter Grant was recognised as being the first manager in rock music to earn more money for the band than for himself. When he signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records he negotiated the highest ever royalty rate for a band. Prince Mario was a hard man in more ways than one.
It was probably not a bad career move.
Peter Grant died of a heart attack on 21st November, 1995, he was sixty years old. Ultimate Classic Rock said, “… rock ‘n’ roll lost one of its biggest characters — figuratively and literally — with the death of legendary Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, perhaps the quintessential artist handler of the rock era.”
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