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Los Angeles - 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 on Sunday. He was 82.
Danny Deraney, publicist for Kasem's daughter, Kerri, says Kasem died on Sunday morning.
In recent years, Kasem was trapped in a feud between his three adult children and his second wife, former actress Jean Kasem. In 2013, his children filed a legal petition to gain control of his health care, alleging that Kasem was suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease and that his wife was isolating him from friends and family members. Kasem also suffered from Lewy Body Disease, a form of dementia.
A judge in May temporarily stripped his wife of her caretaker role after she moved him from a medical facility in Los Angeles to a friend's home in Washington state. Jean Kasem said she moved her husband to protect his privacy and to consult with doctors. Casey Kasem developed a severe bedsore while in Washington and was in critical condition by the time he was hospitalized in early June.
It was a sad, startling end for a man whose voice had entertained and informed music lovers worldwide.
Kasem's American Top 40 began on July 4, 1970, in Los Angeles, when the No. 1 song was Three Dog Night's cover of Randy Newman's Mama Told Me Not to Come. The show expanded to hundreds of stations, including Armed Forces Radio, and continued in varying forms — and for varying syndicators — into the 21st century. He stepped down from American Top 40 in 2004 and retired altogether in 2009, completing his musical journey with Shinedown's Second Chance.
In his signoff, he would tell viewers: "And don't forget: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
