Steve Dahl

Steve Dahl, radio legend, first arrived on the Chicago scene in 1979, after being lured away from Detroit by then ABC-owned WDAI-FM.  In his 25 years on Chicago's airwaves, Dahl has become one of radio's most successful and enduring rock DJs, famous for allowing his listeners an intimate look into both his professional and private lives.

Since his time at WDAI, Dahl has had two stints at WLUP-FM (97.9, "The Loop") and the now-defunct WLUP-AM, five years at WLS-AM (890) and -FM, and he has spent the last eight years as the afternoon disc jockey at WCKG-FM (105.9).  Today he is still rated no.1 in Chicago among adults age 25 to 54, with a listening audience of about 400,000 people each week.

Dahl is widely considered to be the elder statesman of Chicago radio.  Perhaps his most influential contribution to the national music scene was his 1979 Disco Demolition.  Originally crafted as a radio promotion, Dahl asked listeners to bring their disco records and $0.98 to Chicago's Comisky Park (home of the White Sox) so he could blow up the LPs and put an end to disco forever.  With Dahl leading the "Disco Sucks" chant, an estimated 90,000 fans and listeners showed up to storm the field and joined him in setting fire to thousands of disco records.  The event put the young Dahl on the map in Chicago and the rest of the country, and earned him the reputation of being one of the most influential DJs in rock history.

Dahl's expertise is not just limited to radio, but extends to television and music as well.  He won a Chicago television Emmy in 1982 in the category "Outstanding Achievement for a Single Program" for his work on Greetings from Graceland, which chronicled his tour of Elvis' estate.  Since then, he has produced groundbreaking programs such as ABC's story of the Beach Boys, Summer Dreams, and the shows, It's Too Early, New Year's Steve and Garry and the CBS late-night show, The Midnight Hour.  He also created and executive produced the PBS music series Soundstage in 2003.

Steve and his wife, Janet, reside in the western suburbs of Chicago.  They have three sons: Patrick, who works in television production in Los Angeles; Mike, a senior at the University of Illinois; and Matt, a sophmore at DePaul University.

Dahl and his band The Dahlfins continue to play to sold-out concert venues, entertaining live audiences with his original songs.  Most recently, Dahl co-wrote a song that appeared on his friend and former Beach Boy Brian Wilson's album, Imagination.

His 25th anniversary in Chicago was recognized with a party in February 2003 at Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications.  For his 20th anniversary, Illinois governor Jim Edgar proclaimed February 28, 1998 "Steve Dahl Day" throughout the entire state.