Following a long illness, Casey Kasem passed away this morning at the age of 82 from Lewy Body Dementia.
Born Kemel Amin Kasem in Detroit, MI, he was best known as the host of American Top 40 and as the voice of Norville “Shaggy” Rogers on Scooby Doo. He began his broadcasting career as a soldier during the Korean War for Armed Forces Radio. He would host AT40 from 1970 to 1988 and 1998 to 2004, while hosting a competing “Casey’s Top 40” in the years between.
Classic American Top 40 from the 70s and 80s are still run in syndication and have a dedicated channel on IHeartRadio.
Thank you, Casey, for being a role model.
To all of us who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, Casey Kasem was one of our radio heroes. He was the guy who inspired us with the magic of radio. The Top 40 has lost it’s panache since he’s been gone from the airwaves. For me, Casey Kasem will always be the Top 40. There will never be another one like him.
A part of my childhood died this morning too. We will never forget you Casey….
He told us to keep our feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. He’ll be missed.
While teenagers would listen to “American Top 40” with Casey Kasem every weekend in the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s, their younger brothers and sisters heard him every Saturday morning as the voice of Shaggy on the various “Scooby-Doo” cartoon series, which ran on TV in first-run episodes almost as long as Kasem hosted “AT 40” on radio.
I’m sure Casey looks down on us from those stars he told us to keep reaching for, smiling at the thought that we will always keep him in a special place in our hearts.
RIP to one of the true standout personalities in the history of radio.