Background and career
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster, comedian, and media personality. He is best known for The Howard Stern Show, which rose to prominence through national syndication on terrestrial radio from 1986 to 2005; he has broadcast on SiriusXM since 2006. Stern began his radio career while at Boston University. From 1976 to 1982, he developed his on-air style at WRNW (Briarcliff Manor, NY), WCCC (Hartford, CT), WWWW (Detroit, MI), and WWDC (Washington, D.C.). He later worked afternoons at WNBC in New York City from 1982 until his firing in 1985, before starting a 20-year run at WXRK. His morning show entered syndication in 1986, eventually reaching 60 markets and peaking at 20 million listeners. From 2012 to 2015, he served as a judge on America's Got Talent. In his SiriusXM years, he gained renewed attention for long-form interviews, including The Howard Stern Interview: Bruce Springsteen (2022) and 2024 interviews with Then President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Stern has received numerous awards, including Billboard's Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year for eight consecutive years, and became the first host to hold the number one morning show in both New York City and Los Angeles. He is also the most fined radio host, with the Federal Communications Commission issuing $2.5 million in fines to station owners over indecent content. In 2004, he signed a five-year, $500 million deal with Sirius, making him one of the highest-paid figures in radio; he renewed his SiriusXM contract for three more years in December 2025. Calling himself the "King of All Media" since 1992, Stern has worked across television, pay-per-view, and home video. His books Private Parts (1993) and Miss America (1995) both debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list and sold over one million copies. Private Parts was adapted into a 1997 biographical comedy film starring Stern and his radio team, topping the U.S. box office in its opening week and grossing $41.2 million domestically. Its soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. His third book, Howard Stern Comes Again, was released in 2019.
Howard Allan Stern was born on January 12, 1954, in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York City, the second child of Ben (1923–2022) and Ray (née Schiffman) Stern (b. 1927). His parents are Jewish, with family roots in Poland and Austria-Hungary. Ray worked as an office clerk in New York City before becoming a homemaker and later an inhalation therapist. Ben served in the U.S. Army on Long Island and in California during the war, and later worked as a radio engineer at WHOM in Manhattan and as co-owner and operator of Aura Recording Inc., a Manhattan studio where cartoons and commercials were produced. Stern described his older sister Ellen as the "complete opposite" of himself and "very quiet."
In 1955, the family moved to Roosevelt, New York, on Long Island, where Stern attended Washington-Rose Elementary School followed by Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School. He also attended Hebrew school, where he was given the name Tzvi. As a child, Stern took five years of piano lessons and developed an interest in marionettes, entertaining friends with explicit shows. He later formed a band with two school friends, Electric Comicbook, performing vocals and keyboards. From age nine through his second year of university, Stern spent his summers at Camp Wel-Met, a youth camp in Narrowsburg, New York, where he worked as a camper, in the kitchen, and as a counselor; he later described it as "the greatest experience."
Stern developed an interest in radio at age five, citing talk personalities Bob Grant and Brad Crandall as early influences. Though not a frequent listener, he used a home setup—microphone, tape machine, and turntable—provided by his father to record mock radio shows with characters, prank calls, and commercials. Visits to his father's recording studio, where he observed performers like Don Adams and Larry Storch, the voices of voice Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, inspired him to pursue being on-air rather than simply playing music. In the late 1960s, Roosevelt became a predominantly Black area; Stern recalled that only "a handful of white kids" remained at his school and described repeated instances of extreme bullying from Black students. In June 1969, the family moved to nearby Rockville Centre, where Stern, then fifteen, transferred to South Side High School and became "a total introvert" He graduated in 1972; his yearbook lists his only student activity as membership in the Key Club. In 1972, Stern declined a place at Elmira College to pursue a communications degree at Boston University, but his average high school grades led him to spend his first two years in its College of Basic Studies. In his second year, he began working at the campus radio station WTBU, where he played records, read the news, and hosted interview programs. With three fellow students, he later co-hosted a weekly comedy show, The King Schmaltz Bagel Hour, which was canceled during its first broadcast due to a racial sketch titled "Godzilla Goes to Harlem." During this time, Stern used cannabis, Quaaludes, and LSD, but quit after a difficult experience with LSD. In 1974, he gained admission to the university's School of Public Communications. He then studied for a diploma at the Radio Engineering Institute of Electronics in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in July 1975, which earned him a first-class radio-telephone operator license, a required certificate for all radio broadcasters at the time, which was issued by the Federal Communications Commission. With the license, Stern landed his first professional radio job at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts from August to December 1975 doing air shifts, newscasting, and production work. For the next five months, he taught students basic electronics in preparation for their own FCC exams. In May 1976, Stern graduated magna cum laude with a 3.8-grade point average. His major was broadcasting and film, and his minor was English and speech. He funded a scholarship at the university.
After graduating, Stern began his search for radio work by taking an evening position at WRNW, a progressive rock station in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Despite early doubts about his talent, he briefly left for jobs in advertising—first at Benton & Bowles, then in a creative role he lost after just three hours, before working unsuccessfully as a radio ad salesman in Queens. Realizing he had turned down a radio opportunity, he returned to WRNW, taking temporary holiday shifts in 1976 with encouragement from his mother and girlfriend. Impressed by his reliability, the station's director hired him full-time for a six-day, four-hour midday shift at $96 per week. Within months, Stern became production director, and by November 1977, he was promoted to program director with a salary of $250 per week. During this period, he lived frugally, renting a room in a monastery in Armonk, New York. In 1979, Stern responded to a Radio & Records advertisement seeking a "wild, fun morning guy" at WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut. He created an aircheck featuring more outrageous material, blending comedy records with added sound effects and one-liners, to showcase his style, and was hired at the same salary but with a far more demanding schedule. After four hours on air, he spent another four producing and voicing commercials, along with additional production work on Saturdays and duties as public affairs director. He also hosted a Sunday morning talk show, which he preferred as it better reflected the kind of radio he wanted to create. During the 1979 energy crisis, Stern gained media attention by urging listeners to boycott the Shell Oil Company for two days. At WCCC, he met Fred Norris, then an overnight DJ, who became his longtime writer and producer starting in 1981. Stern left the station in early 1980 after being denied a $25-per-week raise. Around the same time, rival station WHCN sent recordings and press coverage of Stern to the consulting firm Burkhart/Abrams in an effort to push him out of the Hartford market as his ratings grew. Consultant Dwight Douglas subsequently offered Stern a position in Columbus, Ohio, which he declined. In his search for new work, Stern responded to a Radio & Records listing for a morning host at WWWW, a struggling rock station in Detroit, Michigan. Despite advice from Douglas to wait for a better opportunity, Stern accepted the offer and began on April 21, 1980. Determined to evolve his style, he aimed to be more open and authentic on air, stripping away ego and barriers. His approach led to early industry recognition, including a Billboard Award for Album-Oriented Rock Personality of the Year (Major Market) and a win in Drake-Chenault's Top Five Talent Search, with his segments distributed nationwide. Despite his personal success, the station's ratings continued to decline. In January 1981, after poor Arbitron results, WWWW abruptly switched from rock to country music, prompting Stern to leave two weeks later, unwilling to adapt to the new format. He declined offers from WXRT in Chicago and CHUM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Stern's next job came when Douglas helped him land a morning hosting position at album-oriented rock station WWDC in Washington. Initially cautious, later noting that the general manager "was not really aware of what I did," Stern accepted the offer and began on March 2, 1981. While relocating from Detroit, Stern spent several weeks developing a new format, viewing the role as a key step toward his ultimate goal of working in New York City. Determined to stand out, he later recalled, "I was going to kill my competition. I was going to say whatever the fuck I was going to say … The first step was to put my team together." As part of that effort, he sought a co-host who could banter with him on news and current events. The station paired Stern with Robin Quivers, a former Air Force nurse and news reporter at WFBR. After hearing a tape of Stern interviewing a prostitute on air, Quivers accepted the role without meeting him, expecting a traditional news position "but it wasn't that way." Management frequently clashed with Stern over content, eventually installing a seven-second delay to censor potentially objectionable material. Despite this, Stern continued pushing against what he viewed as outdated restrictions, later saying, "we began to assemble the program I had envisioned." This included bringing Norris as a writer and producer. During this period, Stern also drew attention for controversial on-air moments, including revealing his wife's miscarriage. By January 1982, Stern had built the second highest-rated morning show in the city. Impressed by Stern's rapid rise in the ratings, WWDC management offered him a one-year contract extension; however, Stern sought a longer-term deal. Around the same time, he received a five-year, $1 million offer to host afternoon programming at WNBC in New York City. The opportunity arose after radio manager Jerry Nachman became a fan of Stern and recommended him to the station. Stern signed with WNBC in March 1982, four months before his WWDC contract was set to expire. Following his signing, Stern's relationship with WWDC management deteriorated. He frequently criticized station leadership and fellow disc jockeys on air, including one incident in which he disclosed the manager's salary. Tensions culminated in his termination on June 25, 1982. Despite the conflict, Stern had more than tripled his ratings during his tenure, and The Washingtonian named him the city's best disc jockey. It was widely believed that Stern's firing stemmed from a controversial segment about the Air Florida Flight 90 crash, in which he was rumored to have called the airline asking for fares to the crash site at the 14th Street Bridge and whether it would be a "regular stop." Stern later denied the claim, stating that "no one ever complained about it." In his final months at WWDC, Stern also secured a $35,000 advance from Wren Records to produce a comedy album of song parodies with Fred Norris, titled 50 Ways to Rank Your Mother, which was later reissued in 1994 as Unclean Beaver.
