Michael Jackson, Hall of Fame Radio Host, Dead at 87

Another Michael Jackson has died, and it’s not the King of Pop. This time around, it’s not a stage performer, and instead, a radio personality. Per Deadline, sadly, the L.A. talk radio personality Michael Jackson, who spent over three decades at KABC Radio and syndicated radio via ABC Radio Network, died peacefully at his home. His death followed a decade-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Per a family spokesperson, Jackson was 87.

“The world knew and adored our Michael Jackson. But Michael’s home was California, Los Angeles, America,” Jackson’s famed radio guest, a former California Senator Barbara Boxer in a statement. “For that we are grateful.”

Jackson’s time at KABC lasted from 1966 and 1998. Within that time, he interviewed hundreds of public figures. Among the noted included Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Jackson also had conversations with Heads of State, governors, senators, Hollywood celebrities, authors, musicians, singers and other artists.

Of his death, Jackson’s longtime radio producer Lyle Gregory said: “It was a testament to Michael, that so many of the guests and celebrities preferred to actually come in studio, rather than do phoners. With his British accent and boyhood charm, Michael made people comfortable, they opened up. That was his gift. Michael molded an interview into conversation, news and information. Like two people sitting at a kitchen table talking. A table, an open window, where millions tuned in daily across the nation, so many of them referring to Michael as their personal University.”

Jackson was born in England in 1934. His career as a radio DJ began in South Africa when his family moved there following World War II. Some of his credits include being a DJ for San Francisco’s KYA and KEWB before moving to L.A to work at KHJ, KNX, and later, KABC.

He married Alan Ladd’s daughter Alana Ladd in 1965 —who passed away in 2014. After ABC, he hosted KRLA, KLAC, and KGIL before retiring in 2007. Jackson’s star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame came in 1984. Simultaneously, he was named the Los Angeles Times’ “Number One Radio Talk Host of the Year” in 1997 and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003.