Percy Sutton, Charlie Douglas, Maria Martin & Rusty Walker Among Radio Hall of Fame 2024 Legends of Radio Inductees
Written by djfrosty on August 19, 2024
The Museum of Broadcast Communications has revealed eight new Legends inductees into the Radio Hall of Fame for 2024, honoring the talents and work of on-air personalities, programmers and operators who have made considerable contributions to the radio industry, and who have since passed away.
The inductees include on-air personalities Chuck Blore, Alan Colmes, Charlie Douglas, Jim Ladd, Byron MacGregor, journalist Maria Martin, executive Percy Sutton and programming executive/on-air personality Rusty Walker.
The Radio Hall of Fame will honor its 2024 class of inductees at the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Omni Nashville in Nashville. 2022 Radio Hall of Fame inductee Lon Helton will serve as the master of ceremonies for the event.
Trending on Billboard
Dennis Green, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement, “These legends of broadcasting may have passed on, but their legacy and what they meant to the radio industry will never die. The Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee is honored to award Hall of Fame inductions to each of these individuals. May their contributions be a lasting tribute and inspiration for generations of broadcasters to emulate for years to come.”
Kraig Kitchin, co-chair of the Radio Hall of Fame, said in a statement, “Our nominating committee recognizes the history of our medium and the countless individuals who contributed to the dominant influence of radio for so many decades. Each of these individuals left an indelible mark on the audiences they connected with and the businesses that they were associated with. We’re grateful for their talents, and only regret that they were not able to receive this special recognition while alive.”
Blore served as a disc jockey and program director of several radio stations, launching his career in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1950s and overseeing KFWB-AM. He was known for identifying stellar on-air talent, including Gary Owens and Wink Martindale. Blore left day-to-day radio duties to form an advertising agency benefiting television networks and motion picture studios, among others with the agency producing thousands of radio and television commercials.
Colmes’s radio career includes years on WABC-AM and WNBC-AM in New York City, before being syndicated nationally on over 100 radio stations via Daynet, a radio syndication company he co-founded with other radio hosts. His program was eventually distributed by Fox News Radio, with Colmes offering a liberal viewpoint on American politics on broadcast radio. Colmes also appeared on television, as co-host with Sean Hannity on the Hannity & Colmes program, and later, as a frequent guest on The Greg Gutfeld Show, both on Fox News.
Douglas created the original all-night radio show for truckers in 1970, after joining WWL-AM in New Orleans. The Road Gang, hosted by Douglas, played country music and offered conversation and companionship for radio audiences that primarily included truck drivers. Douglas launched his career in Louisiana in 1953, and became a program director for the first time three years later in 1956 at KOCY-AM in Oklahoma City. He then worked at Asheville, N.C.; San Antonio, Dallas and Houston among other markets before joining WWL-AM. In 1983, he joined WSM-AM in Nashville as a host of The Music Country Network, before retiring in 1995 to devote his attention to music promotion firm Compact Disc Express. He also served as president of Country Radio Broadcasters for two terms and was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1994.
Southern California on-air personality Ladd was dubbed “The Last D.J.” by Tom Petty in 2002. Ladd was part of KNAC-FM in Los Angeles in 1967, before joining KLOS-FM in 1969 and then joined archival station KMET-FM in 1975, until the station switched formats in 1987. He then re-joined KLOS-FM to host an evening program for 24 years. In 2011, he became an on-air personality for SiriusXM, staying on the air until his death in December 2023.
MacGregor is known for many years on-air in Detroit, Mich. MacGregor became news director at CKLW-AM by the age of 22. His career also included time at the CBS Radio-owned all-news station WWJ-AM, where he served as both morning and afternoon drive anchor during his 13 years with the station.
Martin was first heard on the first Latino-owned community radio station in the U.S., at KBBF-AM in Santa Rosa, Calif. She then joined National Public Radio (NPR) and became an editor of their program Latin File. Martin was the network’s first Latin American Affairs Editor on their national desk, and left NPR in 1993 to launch the English-language program Latino USA, to reflect the experiences of the Latino community.
Sutton founded the Inner City Broadcasting in New York City in 1970 and the company purchased its first station, WLIB-AM, in 1972, making it the first Black-owned radio station in New York. The company later acquired WBLS-FM and purchased stations in 10 more U.S. cities. As the stations programmed R&B music and later, urban contemporary music, talk radio programs also played a vial role in the community of listeners. As founder and chairman, Sutton became known as “The Godfather of Urban Radio.” In 1981, Sutton and his investment partners purchased the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The theater was renovated and reopened in 1985 and included a cable television studio that was used to produce the variety show It’s Showtime at the Apollo.
Country music radio personality and radio station programmer Walker served as a country music radio personality and station programmer before founding Rusty Walker Programming Consultants in 1983, and becoming a revered consultant to many country music formatted stations and helping over 500 radio stations with their music selections, on-air personality coaching, promotional support and more. For seven consecutive years, Walker was named Billboard‘s consultant of the year, and in 2024 the Country Radio Hall of Fame inducted Walker, recognizing his industry impact.
The Radio Hall of Fame was founded by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988, and the Museum of Broadcast Communications took over operations of the Hall in 1991.