Iconic Radio Pioneer Herb Kent Dies at 88

Herb Kent
Herb Kent

Iconic Radio Pioneer Herb Kent Dies at 88

Herb Kent, an urban radio pioneer and voice of the community, passed away on Saturday, October 22. He was 88 years old.

A living history lesson to many Chicagoans, Herbert Rogers Kent, also known as the Cool Gent,

The King of the Dusties and The Honorary Mayor of Bronzeville was one of the most important figures in Chicago radio history. Kent was not only able to entertain and inform listeners on his weekly radio show, he also opened up many doors for African Americans. Simply put, Herb Kent was a Chicago treasure and a bankable commodity.

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the Ida B. Wells housing community, a young Herb Kent displayed an early interest in radio when as a teenager; he built radio equipment, including his own set of microphones, from surplus World War II parts.

Kent’s strong desire to learn as much as he could about the radio industry was eventually realized at the age of 16 when he was accepted into the highly competitive WBEZ Radio Workshops. From his early start at WBEZ, Kent went on to join a local community theater group known as the Skyloft Players. Young and eager to learn, Kent performed on stage and soon realized that many of the skills required to be a successful stage actor applied to radio as well. Kent’s early theatrical training would later help develop such popular radio characters as, “The Wahoo Man,” “Gym Shoe Creeper,” and “The Electric Crazy People.”

“I brought theater of the mind to radio,” said Kent in his bio. In 1949, Kent received his first paid radio job at WGRY in Gary, Indiana for $35 a week.

WGRY at that time had only two radio personalities. With Kent being one of two DJs, he was able to learn every aspect of putting a radio show together from producing, writing, and interviewing, to polishing his own on-air presence on twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week.

Back in the fifties, Herb Kent’s first fan club was formed and the nickname, Cool Gent was born. Around that same time Kent coined the term, “dusty records” to describe old-time favorite hits.

“The dust in the grooves makes them crackle,” Kent further stated in his bio. Throughout his radio career working at stations like, WVON and WJJD, Herb Kent interviewed many of today’s music legends including, Duke Ellington, Smokey

Robinson, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye just to name a few. Kent even gave career advice to a young man with his own dreams for success in the entertainment industry, the late Soul Train creator, Don Cornelius.

In addition to his accomplishments as a radio personality, Kent was an active community and civil rights leader. He spent many years serving as a role model to the African American community by encouraging young people.

“Stay in school and avoid gang involvement.” This message was his theme. In the 1960’s, during the height of the civil rights movement, Kent hosted a program with Stevie Wonder, for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last visit to Chicago. Ironically, it was also Kent who after the assassination of Dr. King, took to the airwaves to calm rioters on Chicago’s West Side in the late 60s.

For his many years of service and dedication to the community, the City of Chicago bestowed numerous honors upon Kent, among them, a street named in his honor, “Herb Kent Drive” and Honorary Mayor of Bronzeville.

In 1995, he was inducted into the Museum of Broadcasting’s, Radio Hall of Fame. In the late 90’s, Kent ventured into local television as the host of the popular dance show called, “Steppin’ At Club Seven,” later to be renamed “The New Dance Club.”

In 2009, the Guinness World Records certified Herb Kent as the longest tenured deejay, having at that time spent 67 years on the airwaves in Chicago. Until recently, Kent lectured to communication students at Chicago State University, three times a week.

This past August, he was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame, along with other entertainment icons including Smokey Robinson, Prince, and Dionne Warwick.

Looking back over his incredible life and broadcast career, Kent was quoted as saying, “Radio has sustained me, and has really brought me through some hard times. It has been a rock for me; it’s the love of my life.”

In a statement from iHeartMedia Chicago, Region President, iHeartMedia Chicago Matt Scarano said, “No words can express our great sense of loss. Herb was an iconic talent, who for nearly 70 years entertained millions of listeners in Chicagoland and around the world. His passion for radio and work ethic was second-to-none as Herb worked to the very end, by hosting what unexpectedly was his final V103 broadcast on Saturday morning.

“Herb leaves a legacy of thousands of entertainers he helped boost, community causes he impacted, and as a former instructor at Chicago State University, sharing his encyclopedic knowledge with hundreds of students.

“We are so thankful for the privilege of working alongside such an historic figure as Herb Kent for the past 27 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with Herb’s family, friends, and loved ones,” Scarano said.

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