The Radio Hall of Fame welcomed its 2025 class Thursday night at Chicago’s Swissotel, honoring 11 figures whose voices, leadership, and creative vision have shaped American radio across multiple eras and formats.
Hosted by syndicated tech talk star and 2021 inductee Kim Komando, the ceremony mixed nostalgia with fan energy as executives and air talent shared stories from control rooms, newsrooms, and studios that helped define how listeners experience music, sports, and talk.
On the executive side, Premiere Networks president Julie Talbott and McVay Media president and Radio Ink columnist Mike McVay entered the Hall, recognized for building influential brands, guiding programming strategy, and mentoring generations of broadcasters.
The talent roster reflected radio’s range. Rock icon Alice Cooper, long running morning duo Bob Lacey and Sheri Lynch, Detroit morning mainstay Tom “Mojo” Carballo, sports commentator Colin Cowherd, syndicated personality DeDe McGuire, journalist and host Scott Simon, mtv original veejay turned radio star Martha Quinn, and civil rights advocate and Birmingham legend Shelley “The Playboy” Stewart completed this year’s lineup.
Inductees were chosen through a blend of industry voting and committee review. More than 900 radio professionals participated in balloting, with results tabulated by Miller Kaplan, while the Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee selected four additional honorees.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications, which administers the Hall, also expanded its Legends category with eight posthumous inductions: Amos Brown, Richard Burden, Joanne Church, Jed the Fish, Irna Phillips, Steve Smith, Dale Sommers, and Don Wade. Their inclusion underscored the Hall’s mission to celebrate both contemporary impact and the foundational contributors whose work still echoes through today’s airwaves.