Casey Kasem, the voice of pop radio for
nearly four decades, died Sunday at St. Anthony’s Hospital near Seattle. He was
82. His death was confirmed by his daughter Kerri on line.
"Early this Father’s Day morning, our
dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends," wrote
Kerri. "Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer
suffering, we are heartbroken. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers.
The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will
miss our Dad. With love, Kerri, Mike and Julie."
As host of American Top 40, Kasem was the
nation's tastemaker, doling out hit singles and music factoids as he counted
down each week's most popular songs for nearly 35 years. A talent that
transcended his medium, Kasem became a household name thanks to his distinctly
trademark voice, his aspiring catchphrases and his love and genuine enthusiasm
of the music he was broadcasting nationwide every week.
After bouncing around the nation as a disc
jockey from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, Kasem finally landed in Los
Angeles in the late Sixties. He first enjoyed showbiz success as a voice actor,
lending his versatile pipes to cartoon characters like Robin and, most
famously, Shaggy in Scooby-Doo, a role Kasem would fill from 1969 to 2010. From
there, Kasem used his disc jockey skills – which he honed as an announcer for
Armed Forces Radio Korea when he was in the Army – to co-create and host
American Top 40, a syndicated weekly music countdown show that would become pop
radio's equivalent of Dick Clark's American Bandstand.
Kasem's run as host of American Top 40
began in 1970, giving him a national platform to showcase his unique personality
and epic catchphrases like "The hits don't stop 'til we reach the
top" and "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the
stars." Kasem remained with the program until 1988, when a contract
dispute led him to start his own syndicated countdown show called Casey's Top
40.
With Kasem no longer the voice of American
Top 40 — radio host Shadoe Stevens took over the role — ratings for AT40
plummeted as stations instead picked up Casey's Top 40. American Top 40 was
ultimately canceled in 1995; three years later, Kasem himself acquired the
rights to the show and reinstated himself as host. Kasem was a mainstay on
radios until January 4th, 2004, when he handed the AT40 reigns to American Idol
emcee Ryan Seacrest.
In 2006, Sirius XM and syndication radio
company Premiere Networks acquired the rights to broadcast episodes of AT40
from the 1970s and 1980s, ensuring Kasem would continue to have a presence on
both terrestrial and satellite radio even if his disc jockey days were behind
him. Along with infomercial work and television appearances (primarily
appearing as himself), Kasem continued to host two smaller countdown programs
following his departure from AT40, but he hung up his radio microphone for good
in 2009. The following year, Kasem retired as the voice of the ever-hungry
slacker Shaggy after 40 years.
Health issues and custody problems
unfortunately marred Kasem's last years as his children from his first wife
engaged in a legal battle over Casey's well being with Kasem's second wife,
actress Jean Kasem. After Kasem was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy
body dementia, the situation often played itself out on tabloid sites, creating
a sad final chapter for what was otherwise one of radio's greatest talents.
Kasem had been in a hospital on life support when a judge Tuesday revoked an
earlier decision mandating that Kasem be artificially fed and hydrated. The
decision allowed daughter Kerri, who had been battling with Jean, to make the
final decision on Kasem's treatment.
For his vast work in the entertainment
industry, Kasem was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981. Four
years later, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters'
Hall of Fame for his radio career. Kasem is also a member of the National Radio
Hall of Fame.
In his famed sign off, he would tell
viewers: “And don't forget: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for
the stars.”
