Gary Burbank, a longtime Cincinnati and nationally syndicated radio host, has died.
Videos by Suggest
Fellow broadcaster Bill Cunningham announced the death of the veteran radio host on X on August 28. “Gary Burbank has passed… May the GOAT… RIP,” Cunningham wrote.
The nonprofit Burbank founded, Play It Forward, confirmed the news. Burbank was 84.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Burbank was known for his on-air characters, such as Earl Pitts American, Gilbert Gnarley, the Right Rev. Deuteronomy Skaggs, and Howlin’ Blind Muddy Slim. Pitts’ commentaries are still nationally syndicated. Burbank retired from his career as a radio host in December 2007.
I’m just so sorry to hear the news that longtime Cincinnati radio personality Gary Burbank has passed away. What a true radio legend and a kind one at that.🎙️ pic.twitter.com/UX0As5YaMS
— 🎙Laura Steele🎙 (@RealLauraSteele) August 28, 2025
Burbank joined 700 WLW-AM in 1981 as a morning host. He brought humor to the airwaves with fictional characters, sharp satire of local figures like Jerry Springer and Marge Schott, and wasn’t afraid to call out the Reds and Bengals during tough times.
The afternoon show he hosted on WLW featured “Sports or Consequences“, a sports trivia quiz where callers tried to stump Burbank and his team. If the cast answered correctly, callers were “blown up” or disconnected. Stumping the team won the caller a prize. Whenever the cast got an answer right, they would chant, “Heyyy! We don’t, we don’t, we don’t mess around. Hey!” Clearly, they weren’t messing around.
Cunningham described his long-time friend and former colleague as the most gifted radio host in history.
“There was no one else like him,” Cunningham recalled, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He stood alone; he did characters; he didn’t take calls. He had this comedic entertainment element. [Burbank] was the master of radio comedy. You would see people alone in their cars laughing because he was hilarious.”
“He did things no one else did. And we’ll never see his like again,” Cunningham added.
Gary Burbank Worked as a DJ in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ontario Before Settling in Ohio
Billy Purser, later known as Burbank, was born in July 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee. While serving in the Army near Stuttgart, Germany, in the late 1950s, he recalled listening to WLW.
He worked under the names “Bill Williams” and “Johnny Apollo” in Louisiana and Mississippi before adopting the name “Gary Burbank,” inspired by radio announcer Gary Owens. At WAKY, he developed many of the characters he later used on air in Cincinnati. Burbank also gained experience as a host and disc jockey, working in both Tennessee and Windsor, Ontario.
This is a tough one. Billy Purser AKA Gary Burbank, Earl Pitts, Gilbert Gnarley G-N-A-R-L-E-Y, Howlin' Blind Muddy Slim, Dan Buckles, Ranger Bob, and many more, has died. He didn't know it, but he was as responsible as anyone for inspiring me in my tiny little radio career. RIP. pic.twitter.com/4whdnpJEBK
— Bruce Alan Buchert (@triviabrewster) August 28, 2025
Beyond his radio career, Burbank ventured into the restaurant business, opening several establishments, including Burbank’s Real Bar-B-Q and Ribs in Sharonville, which closed in 2009.
Greg Hoard, a longtime Cincinnati TV sports anchor and reporter who died in March at 73, published a biography on Burbank in 2009 titled Voices in My Head: The Gary Burbank Story.
Burbank won the Billboard and Marconi awards twice for large-market radio personality of the year. In 2012, he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.