Radio Hall of Fame Goes Virtual to Honor the 2020 Class of Inductees
Radio was celebrated across audio channels as the Radio Hall of Fame presented the 2020 Class of Inducteeson radio, iHeartRadio, and SiriusXM. From talk to hip hop, celebrity presenters joined the industry to honor some of radio’s most listened to personalities. Due to COVID-19 health and safety concerns, this year’s ceremony was not the usual in-person gala and instead was broadcast and streamed from multiple locations.
Missed the live show?
Listen to the full 2-hour ceremony here.
Elvis Duran, popular morning show personality heard on Z100 in New York and nationally syndicated by Premiere Networks, hosted the virtual gala and started the festivities by pointing out the unique power of radio in the listener’s mind and imagination, and transformed everyone to a virtual ballroom. Nationally syndicated Westwood One radio host and 2003 Radio Hall of Fame inductee Jim Bohannon reprised his annual role as the Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony’s announcer. The Radio Hall of Fame is part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, located in Chicago, IL since 1991.
During his acceptance speech, Donnie Simpson observed, “The Hall has recognized the right side of the dial, now, a lot of people of color are going in this class, and I want to tell the Hall that I respect that.”
Charlamagne Tha God noted, “Back in 2009, I gave the introduction Hall of Fame speech for Wendy Williams, and almost 11 years later, I am being inducted as part of The Breakfast Club. I read all the legendary names on that Wall at the Broadcast Museum, I felt inspired and said to myself, ‘I’m going to be on that Wall one day.’”
The 2020 Class of Radio Hall of Fame Inductees are:
Mark & Brian - KLOS-FM
- Longstanding Local/Regional (20 years or more)
Cokie Roberts - Political Reporter, NPR
- Longstanding Network/Syndication (20 years or more)
Angie Martinez - WWPR-FM New York City
- Active Local/Regional (10 years or more)
The Breakfast Club - Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, DJ Envy, Premiere Networks, WWPR-FM
- Active Network/Syndication (10 years or more)
Sway Calloway - Sirius XM Shade 45 Channel
- Public Vote Music Format On-Air Personality
Glenn Beck - The Glenn Beck Show, Premiere Networks
- Public Vote Spoken Word On-Air Personality
Donnie Simpson - WMMJ-FM Washington D.C.
- Radio Hall of Fame Nominating Committee inductee
The evening featured an impressive lineup of presenters, including:
Grammy Award-winning Smokey Robinson - Donnie Simpson
TV star and singer Donny Osmond – Mark & Brian
DJ, VJ, and B-Boy King Tech - Sway Calloway
Radio programmer Dom Theodore - Glenn Beck
National recording artist Ray J - The Breakfast Club
Music Producer Salaam Remi - Angie Martinez
The ceremony concluded with an audio journey that highlighted 100 years of radio’s role in listeners’ lives -- from comedy to tragedy, the montage demonstrated how audio informs, entertains, and engages Americans every day.
Sponsors of the 2020 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony included The Mix Group, Premiere Networks, and The Weiss Agency.
The Radio Hall of Fame is housed at and a project of the Museum of Broadcast Communication, a 501(c)(3) organization.