Longtime Los Angeles and syndicated Rock personality ‘Uncle Joe’ Benson passed away on Tuesday, February 24 from Parkinson’s Disease, Parkinson’s Dementia & complications of a fall.
Benson began his career in 1968 in Dubuque IA and worked at stations across the midwest including WQFM, WRKR, WZMF and WZUU Milwaukee and mornings at WWWM Cleveland through the 1970s. In 1980 he would join Rock 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles where he would end up spending 30 years at that station across multiple stints. At KLOS, Benson would also become known for hosting local shows including “The 7th Day” and “Local Licks”. Benson would also work at Classic Rock “Arrow 93.1” KCBS-FM hosting mornings from 1997 to 2005 and “100.3 The Sound” KSWD from 2013 until its demise in 2017 during his time in Los Angeles.
Benson would host Compass Media Networks’ “Off The Record” from 1998 until 2025 and Townsquare Media’s nightly “Ultimate Classic Rock” from 2018 until 2024. He was also the author of several books known as “Uncle Joe’s Record Guides”.
Benson is survived by his wife Jan, and two children Jay and Jeremy. His brain is being donated to the Brain Donor Project to further the research of neurological disorders. The family wishes for donations to the Brain Donor Project or Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in lieu of flowers.
