The Art Laboe radio pioneer died Friday night at his Palm Springs home after contracting pneumonia, his representative said
Art Labow, the radio pioneer credited with several first inventions, including coining the phrase “oldies but goodies,” has died. He is 97 years old.
Joanna Morones – a spokeswoman for Dart Entertainment, Laboe’s production company confirmed the news of Laboe’s death and said in a statement. That she died Friday night after a brief bout of pneumonia.
His death was also confirm by a statement posted Monday on his official Facebook page, announcing that “he pass away peacefully at his home in Palm Springs, California.”
Laboe hosts an on-demand and dedicated evening radio show called The Art Laboe Connection. His final show aired Sunday night in Los Angeles on KDAY-FM.
The late DJ’s 79 years on the air earned him a place in the record books for “longest continuous airtime,” according to his Facebook page.
Born Arthur Egnoyan in Salt Lake City to an Armenian-American family. Labow first moved to California to attend Stanford University before serving in the US Navy during World War II. He then land one of his first radio jobs at KSAN in San Francisco and began using his stage name Art Laboe to sound more American.
In addition to being one of the first DJs to play R&B and rock ‘n’ roll on West Coast radio. Laboe is credit with helping end the divide in Southern California by hosting live DJ shows in restaurants and attracting audiences from diverse backgrounds, including whites. , black and Latin.
Laboe founded his label in 1957 called Original Sound. He released a chart-topping compilation album titled Oldies, But Goodies: Vol. 1 in 1958 and famously landed one of the few interviews with Elvis Presley during the singer’s trip to Hollywood.