Longtime Cincinnati talk show host Lincoln Ware can’t fathom joining Larry King, Edward R. Murrow, Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, Casey Kasem, Bob Hope or Groucho Marx in the Radio Hall of Fame.
“I can’t believe that I’m even mentioned with those people,” says Ware, who is among the 24 nominees for the Chicago-based Radio Hall of Fame.
“Working at low-power AM stations most of my career, I didn’t think this would ever happen. I’ve got my fingers crossed,” says Ware, 74, who hosts 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays on WDBZ-AM (1230) and repeating 4-7 p.m.
The 51-year Cincinnati radio veteran has given voice to Cincinnati’s Black community since opening the WCIN-AM airwaves to listeners in 1993. He has been the face and voice of "The Buzz" (WDBZ-AM) since the station started in 2000.
Ware began his career on WCIN-AM in March 1973 after being discharged from the U.S. Marines. He did three stints on WCIN around working overnights on WLW-AM; hosting music on Middletown's WPFB-FM; and working several years at WIZF-FM (The WIZ) when it started in Erlanger, Ky.
Cincinnati is represented in the Radio Hall of Fame with WLW veterans Gary Burbank, 1930s sportscaster Red Barber, comedian Red Skelton (who did his first network radio broadcasts on the station in 1938) and the Ma Perkins soap opera; A Christmas Story humorist Jean Shepherd, a former WSAI-AM, WCKY-AM, WKRC-AM and WLWT-TV personality 1947-54; and sports talk host/anchor Dan Patrick, a 1974 Mason High School graduate.
The Radio Hall of Fame also includes broadcasters Edward R. Murrow, Dick Clark, Rush Limbaugh, Larry King, Ryan Seacrest, Paul Harvey, Dom Imus, President Ronald Reagan, Glenn Beck, Don Cornelius, Sean Hannity, Tom Joyner, Casey Kasem, Charles Osgood and NPR’s Cokie Roberts, Ira Glass, Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg, Bob Edwards; entertainers (Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Gene Autry, Edgar Bergen, Steve Harvey); comedians (Abbott & Costello, Jack Benny, Bob & Ray, Stan Freberg); sportscasters (Mel Allen, Jack Buck, Bob Uecker, Red Barber, Vin Scully); and programs (Grand Ole Opry, You Bet Your Life, The Lone Ranger, All Things Considered, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, CBS World News Roundup, Amos ‘n’ Andy).
The 24 Hall of Fame nominees include NPR’s Diane Rehm, Larry Elder, Phil Hendrie, Funkmaster Flex, Johnny Magic, Laurie DeYoung and the radio teams of Crook & Chase, Big D & Bubba, John & Ken, Mojo in the Morning and Free Beer and Hot Wings.
More than 900 radio industry members will vote for up to six nominees. The 2024 class will be announced June 17 and honored at the 2024 Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sept. 19 in Nashville, Tenn.
For Ware’s 50th anniversary last year, Glenwood Avenue near Vine Street in Avondale near the old WCIN-AM studio was given an honorary secondary name of “Lincoln Ware Way” by the city of Cincinnati. No other African-American has been on the Cincinnati airwaves longer than Ware.
He was also nominated last year — but did not win — a prestigious Marconi Award as best “large market personality of the year” from the National Association of Broadcasters.
“It’s an honor just to be nominated for the Hall of Fame. To me, this is bigger than a Marconi," he says. "I never could have imagined this could happen to me after 51 years.”
