It was announced on Monday that Jim Ladd, a producer and disc jockey from Los Angeles who interviewed numerous top rock era performers while working at KMET, KLOS, and SiriusXM, has passed away. Ladd had long been a champion of classic rock.
During the time slot of Ladd’s weekly program on the Deep Tracks satellite channel on SiriusXM on Monday, DJ Meg Griffin stated that Ladd, who resided in the Hollywood Hills, passed away late Saturday night at the age of 75 after suffering a heart attack. Rumor has it that Tom Petty’s “The Last DJ” was inspired by Ladd, who has been one of the few remaining free-form rock DJs on SiriusXM since 2012.
During his tenure at KMET in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ladd was selected Los Angeles’ top FM DJ. He had a 50-year career in music radio. From 1974 to 1986, Ladd was the host and creator of “InnerView,” a nationally syndicated program that ran for an hour and was heard on over 160 stations across the country.
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, U2, Joni Mitchell, and the Eagles were among the people he spoke with. In addition to penning his enduring catchphrase, “Lord have mercy!”, he established the nationally syndicated show “Headsets” and composed thematic sets of music that became his trademark.
Ladd, who was born and raised in Lynwood, began his radio career in 1967 at KNAC, during the height of free-form FM, when artists would frequently play entire sides of albums nonstop. After nine years at KMET, he relocated to KLOS in 1971 and remained there for four years.
Before hosting his own show on SiriusXM’s Deep Tracks channel in 2011, he returned to KLOS in 1997. His autobiography, “Radio Waves: Life and Revolution on the FM Dial,” published in 1991, recounted Ladd’s experiences as a prominent rock radio DJ in Los Angeles prior to and after the station’s corporate takeover.
In 2000, Ladd was honored with the Los Angeles Music Awards’ Air Personality of the Year title. In 2007, she was presented with The Hollywood Arts Council’s Media Arts Award.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame bestowed a star upon Ladd in May 2005. Helene Hodge-Ladd, who was Ladd’s wife and a musician and writer, is his surviving relative. An eulogy was still in the works.
For up-to-date information on obituaries, autopsy reports, and other details about other people’s deaths, visit lakecountyfloridanews.com.
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