Radio Legend Herb Kent, ‘The Cool Gent,’ Dies at 88


Video: Herb Kent joins Phil Ponce in February 2009 to discuss his new autobiography “The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent.” At the time, Kent was just weeks away from celebrating the 65th anniversary of his debut on the airwaves. 


Legendary Chicago radio personality Herb Kent is dead.

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Kent, known as “The Cool Gent,” was the longest-running DJ in radio history, according to Guinness World Records. He graced the airwaves here for more than 70 years. Kent died Saturday after his final radio broadcast.

Earlier this month, he celebrated his 88th birthday.

Kent grew up in the Ida B. Wells public housing project and got his start in radio while a high school student at Hyde Park High School in 1944. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

Funeral arrangements are pending. 


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