Longtime Chicago DJ Richards “Dick” Biondi has passed away at the age of 90

Legendary Chicago rock disc jockey and personality Richard “Dick” Biondi passed away earlier this week, WLS-AM 890 Announce on Facebook Saturday night. He was 90 years old.

The radio station reported that Biondi “died peacefully at his home on Monday, June 26”.

The Facebook post read: “Loving husband to Marybeth, dear brother to Jerry, brother-in-law to Ron and Larry (Kathleen), special uncle and cousin to many.”

A native of upstate New York, Biondi spent much of his 67-year career in Chicago at stations including WLS, WCFL WMAQ, WBBM, and WJMK.

He is credited as one of the first radio DJs to play rock music on the American airwaves, when the music form was still considered controversial.

Biondi has been enshrined in the National Radio Hall of Fame, and since 2010, the same year the city designated an alley south of the old WLS studios near East Lake Street and Garland Court “Dick Biondi Way.”

“His induction into the Radio and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will continue to be part of the soundtracks of our lives,” said WLS.