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Fifty years ago today, the first episode of the syndicated radio institution American Top 40 aired. The first station to air it was KDEO, in El Cajon, CA, who presented it on the evening of July 3rd, 1970. It broadcast through six other stations on July 4th and its reach would grow exponentially throughout the years, airing on 1,000 different stations at its peak. Casey Kasem, its iconic longtime host, would count down the most popular songs on the Billboard charts every week. “Here we go with the top 40 hits of the nation this week on American Top 40...

The first time I can recall hearing Casey Kasem count down the hits on American Top 40 was on a Sunday in June 1981. Just shy of 10 and in the car with my cousins driving to the beach, I asked them to stop flipping the radio when they landed on Kasem, who was just a couple of songs away from revealing that week’s No. 1 hit. I’d glimpsed Kasem once or twice before that, on America’s Top 10, the television version of his countdown show, which ran on Saturdays after cartoons ended. But hearing Casey on the radio that...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Casey Kasem, the internationally famous radio broadcaster with the cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades, died Sunday. He was 82.

Casey Kasem has died. ABC News confirmed that the radio personality died today in a California hospital. He was 82. Born Kemal Amin Kasem in Detroit, the disc jockey began his career in nearby Flint before becoming an announcer on Armed Forces Radio Korea Network in 1952. Upon his return, he went on to work at radio stations in California, Ohio and New York before launching "American Top 40" in 1970. He hosted that show until 1988, and then a revived version from 1998 until 2004, when Ryan Seacrest took over. From 1988 until 1998, Kasem hosted a show called...

FULL TITLE: Casey Kasem could have died from wife disconnecting his feeding tube, snatching him from nursing home — EXCLUSIVE Casey Kasem could have died after his wife disconnected his surgically implanted feeding tube and snatched him from a California nursing home against medical advice at 2:30 a.m., staff members claim. The shocking details — revealed in documents and an exclusive interview with a private investigator — paint a desperate portrait of Jean Kasem, who grabbed her husband out of Berkley East Convalescent Hospital on May 7. “She disconnected his G-tube, which provided his only source to nutrition and hydration,”...

Radio personality Casey Kasem has been taken off life support after a judge ruled Wednesday that daughter Kerri Kasem could start withholding medication, food and fluids. Mr. Kasem, 82, is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, sepsis and dementia, the Detroit Free Press reported. “Transitioning our father’s treatment to comfort-oriented care was one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make,” Kerri wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday. “For people who do not understand the natural dying process: Giving food and water to a dying body creates pain and further suffering,” she wrote in a later post. “The body does not...

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel S. Murphy reversed a ruling from Monday that stated that Kasem should receive food, fluids and certain medications until after a court-appointed attorney met with the former radio host and his doctors. Murphy reviewed additional medical records on Wednesday and concluded that Kasem would endure more pain if he was given food or fluids, attorney Troy Martin said. Martin, who represents Kasem's daughter Kerri, presented the updated information to Murphy during an emergency hearing. He also presented the judge with documents in which Kasem stated he did not want his life prolonged by food...

Missing radio icon Casey Kasem appears to have been found. The New York Daily News reported early Thursday that California law enforcement officials had located the longtime "American Top 40" host somewhere in Washington state. "He's already been found," Sgt. Mario Toti of the Santa Monica Police Department told the Daily News Kasem's daughter, Kerri, told the Daily News she had not been informed of her father's whereabouts when contacted by a reporter.

- One of the most iconic voices of radio and television is missing. A judge has now ordered state officials to look for radio legend Casey Kasem. The order came after a lawyer for Kasem's wife, Jean, told the judge he didn't know where Kasem was.

Casey Kasem will die in the next few months … this according to a rep for Casey’s wife Jean. As we reported, Casey and Jean were sued by a former caregiver who claimed she was mistreated and cheated by Jean during her employment with the couple. The housekeeper, Hilda Loza, sued in small claims court and the case was heard Friday. …

Casey Kasem, the radio host who told listeners for decades to “keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars,” has finished his American Top 20 song countdown. “This will be our final countdown,” Mr. Kasem, 77, said over the weekend on “American Top 20,” ABC News reported