Legendary Chicago Air Personality Dick Biondi Dead at 90

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, July 4, 2023 | 4:39pm CT

Dick Biondi

Legendary Chicago air personality Dick Biondi, aka The Wild I-tralian, died at age 90 on June 26. Biondi was one of the country's most recognizable air personalities and had a career that spanned nearly six decades. Most recently, he was with Classic Hits WLS-FM/Chicago in 2015. He also aired on ABC Radio's True Oldies outlet WZZN-FM in late evenings in 2006 after leaving crosstown Oldies WJMK-FM after 21 years when it flipped to "JACK FM" in June, 2005.

Biondi rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s on leading AM radio stations in Buffalo, Chicago and Los Angeles. He was among the first to play Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent and other early rhythm and blues artists.

"He was the first to make an impact on rock radio in Chicago and around the country via WLS radio's 50,000-watt signal. Biondi is credited as the first U.S. disc jockey to play the Beatles, on Chicago's WLS 890 AM in February of 1963," noted Museum of Broadcast Communications Board Chair Dave Plier.

Biondi was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998.