Longtime radio personality and American Top 40 host Casey Kasem has passed away at the age of 82 after a long battle with dementia. Kasem is best known for launching and hosting the syndicated American Top 40 from July 4, 1970 until 1988 when he launched Casey’s Top 40 which he hosted for ten years before. In 1998, he relaunched American Top 40 where he remained host until his retirement in July 2009. Kasem has lent his voice to many iconic animated characters including Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, voiced numerous commercials, as well as appeared in films and on television. Kasem has also earned a number of awards in his career including a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1981, he was inducted into the Radio Fall of Fame in 1992 as its youngest inductee and in 1997,Billboard magazine awarded him a lifetime achievement award.
In his own words, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.”
