Buffalo Radio Legend Sandy Beach Dies at 86

RADIO ONLINE | Sunday, August 23, 2026 | 6:29pm CT

Sandy Beach

Legendary Buffalo radio personality Sandy Beach, whose broadcasting career spanned 60 years and earned him induction into three halls of fame, has died at age 86 following a brief illness.

Beach arrived in Buffalo in 1968 during the heyday of WKBW-AM, joining a lineup that included Danny Neaverth and Joey Reynolds. The 50,000-watt Top 40 powerhouse gave Beach a platform that helped make him one of the market's best-known radio personalities.

His career also took him to Hartford, Dallas, San Francisco and Milwaukee, but Buffalo remained his radio home. He later hosted mornings at WHTT and WJYE (Star 102.5) and spent time in talk at WGR.

Beach joined WBEN-AM in 1997 and went on to host "Beach and Company" for 23 years. The move established a second chapter of his career as a talk personality, where his knowledge, quick wit and distinctive laugh attracted a loyal audience.

Former Audacy Senior VP/Market Manager Tim Wenger, who brought Beach back to Buffalo from Milwaukee, said he believed Beach's "intelligence, curiosity and quick wit" would translate well to full-time talk radio.

"Sandy immediately attracted a loyal audience with his daily entertaining 'take' on issues and grew his show to be a staple in the Buffalo media landscape," Wenger said. "Very few broadcasters have the lasting impact that Sandy left us."

Neaverth remembered Beach as one of the quickest and best-prepared personalities he ever worked with.

"He was funnier than me, he was funnier than Joey Reynolds," Neaverth said during a WBEN appearance Friday. "He was funnier than anybody I ever worked with, because he was so quick and he was so prepared for his show at all times."

Beach retired from WBEN on July 30, 2020, ending his six-decade broadcasting career and turning the microphone over to Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia.

In his final broadcast, Beach thanked the generations of listeners who had accompanied him throughout his career. "Thank you for sharing your life with me, because if you hadn't done that, I couldn't have done it myself," Beach said. "Thank you and goodbye."