Remembering Don Imus
• The radio industry lost a major personality on December 27, 2019 when controversial Radio Hall Of Famer Don Imus died at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in College Station, TX, due to complications from lung disease. He was 79 years old.
Imus, a native of Riverside, CA, got his first radio break in June 1968 at KUTY in Palmdale, CA. Just three years later, after brief stops at KJOY/Stockton, CA (where he was subsequently fired), KXOA/Sacramento and WGAR/Cleveland, Imus was launched into the national spotlight when he was hired to do mornings at WNBC/New York. It was a rocky tenure that got off to in inauspicious start when he overslept on his second day on the air. In 1973 he missed some 100 days of work, reportedly due to his heavy drinking, and he was fired, along with the rest of the staff in 1977. After a return stint in Cleveland — afternoons on WHK, Imus was rehired to do mornings on WNBC in September 1979. That stint lasted until October 1988, when WNBC was sold to Emmis and Imus moved over to new Sports-Talk outlet WFAN, which moved onto its former frequency and was later purchased by Infinity Broadcasting/CBS Radio.
It’s unfortunate that any mention of Imus’ lengthy career will always carry that asterisk that leads to the mention of his April 2007 termination from CBS Radio after his now infamous characterization of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hoes.” After a lengthy apology tour, Imus made his return to radio in December 2007 when he was hired by then Citadel-owned WABC/New York and was subsequently launched into syndication by Cumulus Media. Imus did his final broadcast on Thursday, March 29, 2018.
On the plus side of his life, Imus was heavily involved in charity work throughout his career, most notably the Imus Ranch in New Mexico that served children with cancer. Don Imus was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989.
