Gary Byrd

Gary Byrd emerged as a polarizing presence through his weekday talk radio program on New York City’s WLIB during the 1980s and 1990s. The station formed part of the portfolio held by African-American entrepreneur Percy Sutton under his Inner City Broadcasting banner. Byrd’s songwriting career originated in the 1960s after he encountered Stevie Wonder and supplied lyrics for the tracks “Black Man” and “Village Ghetto Land.” The pair reunited in 1983 to co-author the historical and inspirational composition “The Crown,” released as a 12-inch single on Wonder’s Wondirection imprint; Wonder also produced the recording and contributed vocals. In 1984 Byrd worked as a disc jockey in England, where he presented the weekly Sunday gospel program “Sweet Inspiration” on the BBC. He later composed a poem on Halley’s Comet commissioned for a European Space Agency transmission and created syndicated spoken-word pieces offering concise profiles of African-American historical figures.