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San Francisco celebrates iconic peace activist Wavy Gravy's 90th birthday
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EMILY FENG, HOST:
The San Francisco Bay Area is honoring one of its 1960s counterculture icons, humanitarian activist and clown Wavy Gravy. Last night was his 90th birthday party. To celebrate, friends and fans packed a star-studded benefit concert at San Francisco's Masonic Auditorium. Katherine Monahan reports from member station KQED.
KATHERINE MONAHAN, BYLINE: Before the show, the VIP lounge is full of tie-dyes, sequins and balloons. Gordon Taylor, who's been working with Wavy Gravy for about 30 years, says he came for the wonderful music and all the love.
GORDON TAYLOR: Wavy Gravy, he is nothing but joy and fun to be with. And, you know, 90 is just 60 upside-down.
MONAHAN: He leads me over to where Wavy is sitting in a floppy tie-dyed crown and a red clown nose.
You looking forward to the party?
WAVY GRAVY: Of course. Party down. Party up. Party sideways. I like to do it sideways.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MONAHAN: As the show gets going, Wavy Gravy moves to a comfy couch on the side of the stage and bobs his red clown nose up and down in time to the music. Born Hugh Romney in 1936, Wavy Gravy studied theater in New York and performed as a comedian. He came to California in the 1960s around the beginning of the hippie movement. LSD was still legal. The Grateful Dead were just getting started, and Wavy became a central part of the cultural wave that swept a generation eager to raise its voice for change. He helped put on events and built a reputation for keeping them safe and positive. When he emceed the original Woodstock in 1969, he arranged free food for the crowd.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GRAVY: What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000.
MONAHAN: Wavy went on to co-found a performing arts camp for kids and the Seva Foundation, which fights blindness across the globe.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) Basic human needs, oh, basic human deeds.
MONAHAN: At the end of the 90th birthday concert, as fans of all ages dance around the auditorium, the performers, including Aloe Blacc, come together to sing Wavy Gravy's song, "Basic Human Needs."
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) Oh, and wouldn't it be thrilling if folks stopped their killing?
MONAHAN: All proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Seva Foundation. For NPR News, I'm Katherine Monahan in San Francisco. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
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