Lynn Tolliver reportedly died of an unspecified medical problem.
Tolliver joined WZAK in 1982 after coming to Cleveland from Detroit, where he worked at MCA Records. While at MCA he was named Billboard Magazine’s urban program director of the year for five straight years and in 2000 was the first Black person to be a career-achievement honoree of the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters.
Tolliver, who hosted a morning show, became a beloved figure in Cleveland and a survey once found that more than 90% of Cleveland’s urban audience knew about Tolliver’s work. At its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, WZAK was consistently the hottest spot on the Cleveland radio dial and a powerhouse nationally, an influential force in Black music, business, culture and even politics.