MARTHA JEAN STEINBERG

A larger-than-life figure on the air, Martha Jean Steinberg was a charismatic Detroit media icon known as “Martha Jean The Queen”. A pioneering R&B disc jockey, civic activist, spiritual leader and trailblazing station owner, Steinberg enjoyed a 46-year career and is a member of the Black Radio Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

She entered a contest to win an on-air job at WDIA in the 1950’. It was there she was dubbed “The Queen” by a fellow disc jockey.

Steinberg was brought to Detroit in 1963 by the owners of WCHB-AM and became an overnight sensation. Three years later she moved to WJLB-FM, where her on-air persona broadened, focusing less on R&B and more on gospel and social commentary. During Detroit’s 1967 civil disturbance she remained on-air for 48 straight hours. In 1982, Steinberg and several partners bought a Detroit AM station, changed its format to gospel and talk, and changed the call letters to WQBH. She bought the station outright in 1997 and remained its star broadcaster until her death three years later.