Casey Kasem, the legendary radio personality whose career spanned nearly four decades, has died. He was 82.
The star’s agent confirmed the news Sunday (June 15) after Kasem had been hospitalized in Washington state for two weeks. He had been suffering from Lewy body disease, the most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s.
“Early this Father’s Day morning, our dad Casey Kasem passed away surrounded by family and friends,” Kasem’s children wrote in a statement. “Even though we know he is in a better place and no longer suffering, we are heartbroken … The world will miss Casey Kasem, an incredible talent and humanitarian; we will miss our Dad.”
After serving as a disc jockey and radio announcer while serving in the U.S. Army, Kasem rose to fame when he started the iconic “American Top 40″ in 1970. The program ran through 1988, playing the top-selling singles from America’s biggest artists. During the 1980s, he introduced the syndicated television series “America’s Top 10″ as a spinoff to his popular radio show.
In 1985, Kasem was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
In the weeks leading up to his death, Kasem was at the center of an ugly court battle between his three children and his second wife Jean Kasem. As the family publicly duked it out, a Los Angeles Country judge ultimately gave daughter Kerri Kasem the authority to have doctors end his infusions of water, food and medicine.
Photo courtesy of The Associated Press
A memorial service will be held on Friday.