Remembering “The Byrdman”
• UPDATED: Veteran air personality Tim Byrd, a.k.a. “The Byrdman,” probably best known for his stints at WNBC and WPIX/New York and VH1, passed away peacefully on January 27 at the age of 68 due to pneumonia.
Byrd had been living in Florida’s Palm Beaches for more than 15 years and had been hosting the Get Up and Go Show on VCMG Live’s True Oldies Channel 95.9 & 106.9 (WIRK-HD3/W295BJ/W240CI) since 2019.
Vic Canales, President of VCMG Live, commented, “I am deeply saddened by the passing of our Beloved ‘ByrdMan.’ Tim was the captain of our team, the Big Brother we looked up too at the True Oldies Channel and the voice that welcomed our listeners to our airwaves, each morning during his Get Up and Go morning Show. He was a staple in the West Palm Beach Community, the backbone of our organization and his memory will live on. I will sorely miss listening to him live on-air and seeing him each morning. My thoughts and prayers are with Sally and the family during this time.”
Byrd’s early radio stops included Charlotte, Jacksonville, Winston-Salem, and Cleveland, where he simultaneously hosted the No. 1 afternoon radio show and the nation’s first daily hour-long dance TV show for NBC affiliate WKYC-TV. From there Byrd went to WNBC/New York, where he worked with Don Imus and Howard Stern before moving over to WPIX-FM where he did both afternoon and mornings. Byrd later joined the fledgling music video outlet VH-1 as the original prototype VJ for the channel. After 11+ years in New York City, Byrd worked in Phoenix and DC before landing in South Florida, where he cracked the mic at WRMF, WEAT, and WOLL. He later launched PalmBeachLiveWorkPlay.com to promote the good life in Palm Beach County and created an outlet for his voiceover business, Voxpower.com.
Byrd was always deeply involved in charity work, and for more than two decades he hosted numerous galas, balls, fundraisers, tree lightings, benefits, and walks. He was especially proud of his affiliation with The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Tim actually met his wife Sally in 2003 at the annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Man and Women of the Year event, and it was love at first sight. He proposed to her at the Jupiter Beach Resort., and the rest was history in their storybook romance.
In addition to Sally, his beloved wife of 19 years, Byrd is survived by two loving stepchildren, Rola and Adieand his mother, Bethany. A lengthy tribute to the Byrdman is posted at trueoldiesfla.com. Services will be announced soon.
• Matt Seinberg of Big Apple Airchecks, a longtime friend of the Byrdman is in the process of producing aircheck tribute and is looking for any of Tim’s friends and colleagues to record a remembrance of him. Seinberg can be contacted at matt@bigappleairchecks.com.
