Rest In Peace Kidd Kraddick

Normally I take the weekends off from writing blogs because for me that's family time. I work 40+ hours a week so usually at nights I'm exhausted. My wife, son, and I don't get to spend much quality time together during the week. So weekends are usually spent together and I take the weekend off from blogging. This weekend was no different until last night. As we were driving home from my parents house from having dinner and watching a movie (Trouble With The Curve is an awesome movie...just FYI) my wife got on Facebook for the first time since we started dinner. That's when we learned of the untimely death of radio icon Kidd Kraddick.

If you don't listen to 106.1 KISS FM in Dallas or to a station in your city that his show was syndicated on, then you may not know who this man was. But he was a legend and icon in the radio industry, especially in Dallas radio. Any and all radio shows in Dallas' goal ratings-wise was to be number 2 because we all knew no one was going to beat Kidd Kraddick. His show was number 1 in this market it seems like for years.

I've been in radio now for just over eight years in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market. Even if you are like me and didn't listen to Kidd's morning show, you knew what an awesome guy Kidd was. I got to meet him one time at a concert when I worked for 96.3 KSCS. He was the nicest guy in the world. He acted like I was the most important person he could possibly meet at that particular moment and I was nothing more than a part time promotions kid. He made you feel like you were somebody to him, even if it was just for a few fleeting moments.

Friends of mine who have become very successful in the radio industry  credit Kidd Kraddick for being who inspired them to get into radio. Justin Frazell, another radio staple in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and the host of the Justin and Charla Morning Show on 95.9 The Ranch, posted the following on Facebook last night (7-27-13): "The reason I've not got to listen to Kidd Kraddick in the last 17 years is because of the influence he had on me from the age of 13 to 23. RIP Kidd. Thanks for lighting the fire and thank you for all you did for others. Seen, unseen. Heard and unheard."


Cody Alan, host of CMT's Radio Live and former DJ at 99.5 The Wolf, tweeted the following this morning: "Deeply sadden by the loss of Kidd Kraddick. A great guy who inspired me & many others."

Kidd's show wasn't the only reason he was one of, if not the most popular DJs in Dallas/Ft. Worth radio history. Kidd was extremely charitable. In fact, he died while at his annual charity golf tournament for his charity "Kidd's Kids" which raised money for special needs kids. Over the years, he was the leading advocate for special needs kids, going above and beyond anything anyone ever expected to help those kids out. Golf tournaments, concerts, etc. He loved those kids and would do anything to help them.

Kidd Kraddick had a heart of gold and was taken away from us way too soon. My prayers go out to his show staff, his family, and his closest friends. RIP Kidd. Go rest high on that mountain.