Radio pioneer Hal Jackson, who spent more than seven decades on the air, including an unprecedented run as host of WBLS’ “Sunday Morning Classics,” show died yesterday.
He was 97.
The marquis on Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater put his name up in lights yesterday in tribute to a trailblazing barrier breaker whose lists of firsts was as long as the radio dial.
In 1995, he was the first African-American inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
“Hal was a giant,” said Deon Livingston, VP and general manager of WBLS. “He was always looking for ways to bring people in the industry up. We lost a giant and I lost a dear friend.”