LA City Council Commemorates KROQ DJ Richard Blade

Los Angeles City Hall

Photo: Getty Images

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday honored legendary KROQ DJ Richard Shepard, better known as Richard Blade, and proclaimed June 9 as Richard Blade Day for his contributions that go beyond music.

"For those special songs that came on the radio ... and one of the voices that we were so often fortunate to hear introducing that favorite music to us was Richard Blade," Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said in leading Tuesday's presentation.

"... We are here to celebrate the contributions of this incredible Angeleno and really appreciate all of the musical history that he's giving us lessons for our generation."

Born on May 23, 1952 in Bristol, England, Blade graduated from Oxford University and started his career as a club DJ in the UK and Europe before moving to Los Angeles. He began his radio career in 1980, working for stations in Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo and Long Beach before joining KROQ in 1982.

"He undoubtedly was the best in the game, and Richard was the top- rated DJ from 1992 to 2000," Rodriguez said.

Blade worked with "countless legends" such as Rick Carroll, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla and Carson Daly. The councilwomen noted that Blade is "so much more than a radio personality."

Blade also created, produced and hosted "Videobeat" for KTLA, a weekly series that ran for two years. He hosted music-related television programs including "America's Top 10."

He also hosted several "Flashback" radio programs on KROQ, and KROQ nights at LA dance clubs, including at the Palace Theatre.

In 2000, Blade wrote the second-season finale for a science fiction series called "Seven Days." He worked at MTV as a writer, producer and consultant for bands.

"I became a citizen in 1988," Blade said at Tuesday's meeting. "That was the proudest day of my life ... until now."


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