The legendary Radio Jockey, Ralph Barbieri from the KNBR station breathed his last at the age of 74. He was down with Parkinson's disease since 2011.
San Francisco based sports radio personality, Ralph Barbieri died at the age of 74, at his home in Novato on Monday after struggling with Parkinson’s disease from 2005. He was the Co- founder of KNBR (680 AM) and worked for almost 28 years with the KNBR radio station.
He used to take interviews where he was seen highly opinionated and used abrasive approach which knowingly unknowingly, gained listeners attention. He dominated the afternoon talk show with former NBA player Tom Tolbert, called ‘The Razor and Mr. T’ where the artist was nicknamed ‘Razor’ for his distinctive voice and delivery.
Why Ralph Was Nicknamed ‘Razor?’
Ralph Barbieri was nicknamed ‘Razor’ because of his raspy voice, and some listeners resembles his voice with barber’s electric razors.
Career:
Ralph was a stringer for one of the sports magazine before KNBR in 1984. Barbieri was known to end his show with, “Angels fly because they take themselves lightly,” a quote from Gilbert K. Chesterton.
Barbieri, who was single, became focused on becoming a father. Through in-vitro fertilization with a surrogate mother, his son, Tayte Ali, was born in 2000.
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How Parkinson’s Disease Affected His Career?
In 2005, Barbieri was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Since, he didn’t disclose the illness to KNBR management and his audience until 2011, that’s when he was fired in April 2012. He sued KNBR’s parent company, Cumulus Media, alleging discrimination based on his age and his illnesses.
Colleagues and high-profile figures from the Bay Area, paid their homages on Monday. Former Giants general manager, Brian Sabean, one of Barbieri’s favorite noted on KNBR that Barbieri always came to his interviews. Many other tributes poured in over social media.
However, several fans got confused with WWE wrestling star Scott Hall, who is also known as Razor Ramon. As soon as the news came out of his death, #RIPRazor started trending on Social Media.
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