Peter Grant

Grant was buried on December 4, 1995 at St. Gebenini divorced him while he was in jail in 1982. His son Warren was by his side. Holmes was incarcerated in connection with the murders, but was later acquitted. On the afternoon of November 21, 1995 while driving to his home, Horselungs Manor in Sussex, he suffered a fatal heart attack. Four of the gang's members were later found killed in what is now known as the Wonderland Murders or Four on the Floor (police reference to the crime). In 1992, he appeared in the film Carry On Columbus as a cardinal. After the robbery, Nash is believed to have suspected Holmes had a part in it, and after getting Holmes to confess to his participation, allegedly exacted revenge against the Wonderland Gang.

Marital problems and the death of drummer John Bonham took its toll on Grant's health and after the official breakup of Led Zeppelin he virtually retired from the music business. Allegedly in exchange for his life, he told gang leaders about Nash and a very large stash of drugs, money and jewelry Nash had, and helped to set up a robbery. Just as the negotiations had just begun, Elvis unfortunately passed away on August 16, 1977. After stealing from a couple of drug runs, Holmes found himself in trouble with the Wonderland Gang. In 1977, Grant was asked by Colonel Tom Parker to manage a proposed tour of Europe by Elvis Presley. At the same time, Holmes was closely associated with the Wonderland Gang, frequently selling drugs for them. When Grant was once questioned on what was the single most important thing a manager could say, his response was "know when to say no". Holmes had developed a close friendship with drug dealer and nightclub owner Eddie Nash, who supplied Holmes with cocaine, heroin and other drugs he desired.

In 1975, Grant turned down a lucrative offer to manage Queen. In 1981, he was arrested for stealing a computer from a car. He also managed Bad Company and Maggie Bell. The money Holmes was earning at the time was not enough to support his drug addiction, and he ventured into crime, selling drugs for gangs, prostituting himself to both men and women, committing credit card fraud and petty theft. In 1974, Grant was the driving force in establishing Swan Song Records which gave Led Zeppelin further financial and artistic control over its own products. He starred at a time when an attractive personality and a certain amount of acting ability were demanded of porn stars. Grant was also instrumental in setting up Led Zeppelin's publishing company Superhype, in 1969. By 1978 Holmes was reputed be earning as much as $3000.00 a day as a porn actor.

Grant's famous dressing room scene in the film The Song Remains the Same where he demands an explanation from concert staff on the sale of illegal photos, was typical of his no-nonsense dealings with people who tried to profit at the band's expense. In 1973, Holmes' career began to take off with a porn series built around a private eye named Johnny Wadd. By promoting Led Zeppelin's concerts he ensured that ticket profits wound up in the hands of the band rather than in the hands of promoters and booking agents. Holmes was arrested during this time for pimping and pandering, but avoided prison time by becoming an informant for the LAPD. Live performances were more important than television appearances – if you wanted to see Led Zeppelin you had to experience one of their performances. With the success of 1972's Deep Throat, The Devil in Miss Jones and Behind the Green Door, porn had become chic although it was still illegal. Grant strongly believed that bands could make more money and have more artistic merit by producing albums rather than churning out singles. Initially, he did magazine work and the occasional 8mm loop (both straight and gay), keeping his work in porn secret from his wife.

He negotiated a sizable five-year record contract with Atlantic Records and his business philosophy would eventually pay off for the label. While recovering from the collapsed lung, Holmes frequented a club in Gardena, where he met a man in the bathroom who encouraged him to do pornography. Without Peter Grant, it would have been doubtful Led Zeppelin would have been as successful. Holmes found work as a forklift driver at a warehouse, but the rigors of driving in and out of a frozen warehouse created severe health problems, causing Holmes' lung to collapse on three separate occasions. He also travelled closely with The Yardbirds ensuring that all costs were kept to a minimum, that members were also paid on time, and demanded publicity and artistic control by the band. For the next two years, Holmes and his wife lived quiet, uneventful lives. Grant's no-nonsense approach to promoters and persuasive presence was influential in The Yardbirds making money from its concerts for the first time. They married in 1965.

The experience however did give him ideas, which were put to good use later with Led Zeppelin. It was during his stint as an ambulance driver that he met a nurse named Sharon Gebenini. Producer Mickie Most had suggested to Napier-Bell that his friend Peter Grant would be an asset to The Yardbirds, but as it eventuated, his arrival was too late to save the band. Upon his discharge, Holmes moved to Los Angeles where he worked in a variety of jobs. It was in late 1966 that Simon Napier-Bell asked Grant to take over management of The Yardbirds, who were constantly touring yet struggling financially. At 16, with the permission of his mother, Holmes enlisted in the United States Army and spent three years in Germany in the Signal Corps. Both Most and Grant set up the highly successful RAK Records label which produced a string of Number 1 hits throughout the 1970s. John Holmes was the youngest of five children.

His management was established in the same 155 Oxford Street office used by his friend Mickie Most, who previously used to work with Grant at the 2 Is Coffee Bar. John's mother, a devout Southern Baptist married Edward Holmes a few years later, and changed John's birthname from Estes to Holmes. By 1964, Grant had started to manage his own acts including The Nashville Teens, The Flintstones, an all-girl group called She Trinity, The New Vaudeville Band and the early years of Jeff Beck and Terry Reid. Born in Pickaway County, Ohio, John never knew his father, a railroad worker named Carl Estes. In 1963, Grant was hired by promoter Don Arden to act as tour manager for artists such as Bo Diddley, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Brian Hyland, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, and The Animals. In reality, it was somewhere between 9 and 11 inches long (23-28 cm). As the acting roles dried up, Grant made more money taking groups such as The Shadows to gigs. Some elements of the film Boogie Nights were loosely based on Holmes, who was widely publicized as having a 13½-inch-long (34 cm) penis.

The money he made from these ventures was invested in his own entertainment transport business. Holmes was particularly active in the period before condoms were customarily used in adult film, and was a user of injectable drugs; he died in 1988 from complications due to AIDS. He was also Robert Morley's double on many of that actor's films. John Curtis Estes (August 8, 1944–March 13, 1988), better known as John Holmes, was an adult film actor of the 1970s and 1980s and is generally considered to be the greatest male star in the 35 years since cinematic pornography lost its illegal status and became generally available to the public. Between 1958 and 1963, Grant appeared on a number of movies including A Night to Remember (as a crew member on the Titanic), The Guns of Navarone (a British commando), Cleopatra (a palace guard), and television shows The Saint, Crackerjack, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Benny Hill Show. It kindled his enthusiasm for acting and Grant was hired by film studios as a bit part actor, stuntman, and body-double.

He was spotted by a professional wrestler called Paul Lincoln, who gave Grant the opportunity to wrestle on television as "Count Massimo". He worked briefly as an entertainment manager at a hotel in Jersey before working as a bouncer and doorman at London's famous 2 Is Coffee Bar, where many figures in the British music industry got their start such as Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Tommy Steele, and others. He attended Charterhouse public school until leaving at the age of 13, when he became a sheet metal factory worker in Croydon. Grant however was soon attracted to the entertainment industry and became a stagehand for the Croydon Empire theatre until leaving in 1953. Grant was born in the south London suburb of South Norwood, Surrey.

He was a manager for The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and Bad Company, a record executive for Swan Song Records, and was responsible for improving pay and conditions for musicians in dealings with concert promoters. Peter Grant, (April 5, 1935 – November 21, 1995) was one of the most influential managers in rock and roll. Carry On Columbus (1992). Cleopatra (1963).

The Guns of Navarone (1961). A Night to Remember (1958).