# Casey Kasem
**Casey Kasem** (born Kemal Amin Kasem; April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American radio personality and voice actor who co-created and hosted the syndicated weekly countdown program *American Top 40* and voiced [Shaggy Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/shaggy-rogers) on the *Scooby-Doo* cartoons for more than four decades.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Kemal Amin Kasem, April 27, 1932, Detroit, Michigan, to Lebanese immigrant parents[1](https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/encyclopedia-of-detroit/kasem-casey) |
| Died | June 15, 2014, in Gig Harbor, Washington, aged 82; he had Lewy body dementia[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html) |
| Signature show | *American Top 40*, hosted 1970–88 and 1998–2004, succeeded by Ryan Seacrest[3](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/stories/articles/casey-kasem-and-american-top-40) |
| Reach | AT40 aired in seven markets at launch in 1970, nearly 500 U.S. markets by 1980, and nearly 1,000 outlets worldwide by 1988[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40) |
| Rival show | *Casey's Top 40* with Westwood One, begun January 21, 1989, after a contract dispute with ABC[5](https://www.at40fan.info/at40/original/ct40.html) |
| Voice acting | Voice of Shaggy on *Scooby-Doo* series and specials for more than 40 years[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/casey-kasem) |
| Honors | Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1992[7](https://www.radiohalloffame.com/casey-kasem) |
## Early life and radio career
Kasem grew up in Detroit, where his Lebanese immigrant parents ran a grocery store[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). While attending [Wayne State University](https://www.edgepedia.org/wayne-state-university) he acted on national radio shows such as *The Lone Ranger* and *Sergeant Preston of the Yukon*[8](https://abcnews.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=131840). Called to Army service during the [Korean War](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-war), he spun bebop jazz records for the Armed Forces Radio network in South Korea under the on-air name "Crazy Casey"[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). After his discharge in 1954 he worked as a disc jockey in Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, San Francisco, and Los Angeles[7](https://www.radiohalloffame.com/casey-kasem).
The style that made him famous dates to 1962, when, working on a new format for his show, he found a discarded magazine with facts about recording artists and began introducing songs with biographical "teaser" lead-ins, a technique the Radio Hall of Fame describes as now a standard in the industry[7](https://www.radiohalloffame.com/casey-kasem). He also hosted the Los Angeles dance-party TV show *Shebang* in the mid-1960s[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html).
## American Top 40
*American Top 40* debuted the weekend of July 4, 1970, counting down the top 40 pop songs in the United States from the [Billboard charts](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-charts)[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). The program concept grew out of a collaboration between Ron Jacobs and Tom Rounds, founders of the syndicator [Watermark](https://www.edgepedia.org/watermark), and Kasem and his childhood friend Don Bustany, owners of K-B Productions[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). It was the first program to turn the local [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40) countdown into a nationally syndicated show[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40).
The show was distributed weekly to stations on records: a boxed set in which each side held a half hour of programming, with cue sheets allowing stations to insert local breaks[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). As song lengths grew, the show expanded from three to four hours in 1978[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40).
Kasem's delivery carried the show. He blended chart positions with artist anecdotes, listener letters, and the **Long Distance Dedication**, a segment that became one of the program's most recognized features[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). His sign-off, "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars," became the show's trademark[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). At his peak in the 1970s and early 1980s the show was a communal weekend ritual; The Washington Post recounts that motorists would sit in driveways waiting to hear which song was number one[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html).
## Departure, Casey's Top 40, and return
In 1988 Kasem and ABC Radio Networks, which had acquired Watermark, failed to agree on a renewed contract, and ABC introduced [Shadoe Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/shadoe-stevens) as the new AT40 host in July 1988[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). Kasem signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear contract with Westwood One, reputedly valued at $20 million over five years, and *Casey's Top 40* debuted on January 21, 1989, four months after his last AT40 show[5](https://www.at40fan.info/at40/original/ct40.html) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). Its format closely resembled AT40, with the Long Distance Dedication renamed "Request and Dedication"[5](https://www.at40fan.info/at40/original/ct40.html).
The original AT40 continued with Stevens until 1995, and its last ABC-era program aired in January 1995; rights reverted to Kasem and Bustany in 1998, and Kasem returned as host of *American Top 40* in March 1998 on the AMFM Radio Networks[4](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40). He hosted until 2004, when [Ryan Seacrest](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-seacrest) took over[3](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/stories/articles/casey-kasem-and-american-top-40). His countdown work on spinoffs such as *American Top 20* and *American Top 10* ended on the week of July 4, 2009, after 39 years on the air[7](https://www.radiohalloffame.com/casey-kasem).
## Television and voice acting
Kasem was the voice of Shaggy Rogers on *Scooby-Doo* series and specials for more than 40 years[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/casey-kasem). A vegetarian, he quit the role in 1995 when asked to voice Shaggy in a [Burger King](https://www.edgepedia.org/burger-king) commercial, and returned seven years later after the producers agreed that Shaggy would also be a vegetarian[9](https://time.com/2878606/casey-kasem-the-voice-of-america/). His other voice work included Robin in *The Adventures of Batman and Robin* and *The All New Super Friends Hour*, Cliffjumper on *Transformers*, and service as NBC's chief prime-time announcer[10](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Business/Radio-Broadcasting-Industry-Albarran-Pitts-2001.pdf) • [9](https://time.com/2878606/casey-kasem-the-voice-of-america/).
He also worked in television beyond voice acting. His syndicated music-video show *America's Top 10* went on the air in 1980, predating MTV by a year, and lasted for much of the decade[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). He appeared in films such as *New York, New York* and *Ghostbusters* and on shows including *Ironside*, *Charlie's Angels*, and *Fantasy Island*[6](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/casey-kasem).
## Advocacy and later years
Kasem became one of the country's most prominent [Arab Americans](https://www.edgepedia.org/arab-americans). He used his standing to draw attention to stereotyped portrayals of Arabs in movies and on television and helped lead a successful effort to persuade [Walt Disney](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney) executives to change lyrics in the 1992 film *Aladdin* that called an Arab homeland "barbaric"[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). He kept activism separate from his show, saying that using *American Top 40* for any other purpose would compromise his credibility[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html).
In his final years Kasem suffered from [Lewy body](https://www.edgepedia.org/lewy-body) dementia, and a public family dispute over his care arose between his adult children and his second wife, Jean Thompson[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). He died on June 15, 2014, at a hospital in [Gig Harbor, Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/gig-harbor-washington)[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html). The show he built continues: Casey Kasem's *American Top 40* classic broadcasts are still syndicated, and the franchise surpassed 600 affiliates in 2026[11](https://www.premierenetworks.com/press/casey-kasems-american-top-40-surpasses-600th-affiliate-milestone).
## Legacy
Kasem is remembered as the defining voice of the countdown format. TIME's music writer John Covach, Director of the University of Rochester Institute for Popular Music, placed him alongside [Alan Freed](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-freed) and Tom Donahue as one of the most important disc jockeys in radio history, noting that his genial, earnest persona helped hold a splintering radio audience together around pop music[12](https://time.com/2891381/why-casey-kasem-mattered/). Radio host [Elvis Duran](https://www.edgepedia.org/elvis-duran), who as a teenager ran the board for an AT40 broadcast, described the show as "listening to a friend tell a story every time he opened his microphone"[13](https://time.com/2891361/elvis-duran-casey-kasem/). The distributor Premiere Networks calls the show he created in 1970 "the gold standard of music programming"[11](https://www.premierenetworks.com/press/casey-kasems-american-top-40-surpasses-600th-affiliate-milestone).
## References
1. [Kasem, Casey, Encyclopedia of Detroit, Detroit Historical Society](https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/encyclopedia-of-detroit/kasem-casey)
2. [Casey Kasem, king of the top-40 countdown and 'Scooby-Doo' voice-over artist, dies, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/casey-kasem-king-of-the-top-40-countdown-and-scooby-doo-voiceover-artist-dies/2014/06/15/213eed10-2ba6-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html)
3. [Casey Kasem and American Top 40, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/stories/articles/casey-kasem-and-american-top-40)
4. [American Top 40, Museum of Broadcast Communications Radio Encyclopedia](https://www.museum.tv/radio-encyclopedia/american-top-40)
5. [Casey's Top 40 History, AT40 Fan Site](https://www.at40fan.info/at40/original/ct40.html)
6. [Casey Kasem, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/casey-kasem)
7. [Casey Kasem, Radio Hall of Fame](https://www.radiohalloffame.com/casey-kasem)
8. [Person of the Week: Casey Kasem, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=131840)
9. [Casey Kasem: The Voice of America, TIME](https://time.com/2878606/casey-kasem-the-voice-of-america/)
10. [The Contemporary Radio Industry, Radio Broadcasting Industry (Albarran & Pitts, 2001), WorldRadioHistory](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Business/Radio-Broadcasting-Industry-Albarran-Pitts-2001.pdf)
11. ["Casey Kasem's American Top 40" Surpasses 600th Affiliate Milestone, Premiere Networks](https://www.premierenetworks.com/press/casey-kasems-american-top-40-surpasses-600th-affiliate-milestone)
12. [Why Casey Kasem Mattered, TIME (John Covach)](https://time.com/2891381/why-casey-kasem-mattered/)
13. [Elvis Duran's Top Casey Kasem Memory, TIME](https://time.com/2891361/elvis-duran-casey-kasem/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcast networks and channel brands › Radio networks and syndication › Syndicated radio programs and personalities*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license