After more than two decades on air, Atlanta radio personality Bert Weiss will retire from “The Bert Show” with his final broadcast set for Oct. 24.
Weiss, 58, originally launched the morning show in 2001 on fledgling local station Q100 (now Q99.7), before the show went nationwide on syndication. During his tenure with “The Bert Show,” Weiss was the first DJ to put Justin Bieber on the radio and is credited by Usher for inspiring his “Confessions” album with an on-air conversation two decades earlier.
“For 25 years, listeners have allowed me to be part of their mornings, their commutes and their lives – and that is the greatest gift of my career,” Weiss said in a statement. “It’s almost unheard of in radio for an audience to stay with a show this long, and I’ll never take that loyalty for granted. Every laugh, every tough conversation and every shared moment has meant the world to me.”
The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame inductee’s legacy extends beyond his broadcast accomplishments. Through his non-profit Bert’s Big Adventure, Weiss has provided hundreds of children with chronic and terminal illnesses with all-expenses-paid trips to Walt Disney World. Following his retirement, Weiss will continue to lead the organization, according to a press release.
“We launched Bert and team with a loose plan to electrify Atlanta radio with a bold, buzzing morning show on a brand-new Top 40 station, operating on a then-unreliable ‘move-in’ signal from Anniston, Alabama,” Brian Philips, Chief Content Officer for Cumulus Media, said in a statement. “In the ensuing 25 years, Bert emerged as the obsessive architect of humor, truthfulness and humanitarianism. With brilliant help from a hand-picked, evolving team, he built a national award-winning powerhouse. ‘The Bert Show Era’ is a historic chapter in Atlanta – and American – radio. As he reimagined the possibilities of morning entertainment, I’m sure he will attack retirement with wild, fun originality. Thank you, Bert.”
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