Chicago radio icon Dick Biondi, known as “The Wild I-tralian,” has passed away at the age of 90. Biondi began his 67-year career in upstate New York and gained prominence after joining WLS in Chicago in 1960.
Biondi was a Top 40 pioneer in the industry, being the first DJ to play the Beatles on American radio months before the onset of Beatlemania in 1963. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1998. He worked at several other Chicago stations, including WBBM-FM, before retiring from WLS in 2017.
He died peacefully at his home on June 26 as confirmed by his family.
Remembering Dick Biondi from Art Vuolo on Vimeo.
