Ingram, king of Top 40, dies at 83

New York radio legend Dan Ingram, known as one of the best Top 40 disc jockeys in the industry, died at home in Florida on Sunday. He was 83.

The Long Island native began his career at small stations in New York and Connecticut before moving on — and up — to Dallas and St. Louis. By 1961, he returned home to WABC and launched a career that lasted through the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys.

When WABC gave up on music and switched to talk radio, Ingram moved to WKTU in 1984 and then to WCBS in 1991, where he stayed until he retired in 2003.

"Dan Ingram was probably the most influential, most powerful and most popular top-40 jock in the history of New York radio," WCBS-FM's Bobby Jay told the Daily News when Ingram left the station in 2003. "I remember the late Sonny Taylor and I would listen to him when we were at WWRL and we loved it. His mind was sharp as a razor.”

Ingram was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

“The radio industry, the tri-state area and all of us at CBS-FM have lost a friend who happens to be a legend,” the station said in a statement Monday.