Radio host Thomas Joyner was born on November 23, 1949 in Tuskegee, Alabama. He grew up in a very educated family. His father Hercules L. Joyner graduated black college, his mother Frances Joyner also attended a college. His grandfather Oscar Joyner was a great physician with a degree in medicine. Tom Joyner along with his brother Albert Joyner decided to enter to Tuskegee Institute, where Tom studied sociology.
He liked music and while studying at the Tuskegee Institute he participated in a music band The Commodores. However, this job did not bring him any money it was just his hobby. To find a decent job Tom moved to Montgomery, Alabama where he got a job in a radio station. Then he expanded the number of radio station where he worked at, including radio stations in St. Louis and Memphis and finally moved to Chicago in 1978. In Chicago, he worked at WVON and WBMX-FM radio stations.
From 1985, Tom Joyner was working on the two radio stations at the same time: KKDA-FM (Dallas), where he hosted a morning show and WGCI-FM (Chicago), where he hosted an afternoon show. Therefore, he had to fly every day between these two cities in order to do his job. Incredibly, but he has been doing that for eight years. According to his interview, he mentioned that during all that time when he worked at KKDA-FM and WGCI-FM at the same time, he flew seven million miles. For such every-day cruise, he got a nickname "The Fly Jock".
In 1994, he was rewarded for his dedicated work by being hired by ABC Radio, and he received an offer to start his own show, titled The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Since that time, Tom became well-known radio host in the USA. At the show he discussed latest news, interviewed celebrities, commented sport events and so on.
He became so famous, that in 2005 Warner Books decided to publish a book about Tom Joyner titled "I'm Just a DJ but ... It Makes Sense to Me". The book described all his life, from being a child and attending the Institute to his thoughts about education.
In 2009, he wrote a book titled Tom Joyner Presents How to Prepare for College , where he make suggestions to parents how to help their children study the best. Tom was not just a radio host and a writer, he also tried himself in a film industry. In 2005, he received an episodic role in a film The Gospel, in 2009 he played in Madea Goes to Jail.
For his hard work during all his life, he earned a fortune. His net worth is about 30 million dollars. Despite this money, his private life was not so happy. His first wife was Dora Chatmon Joyner. She gave a birth to two his sons unfortunately, they subsequently divorced. His second wife was Donna Richardson. They have been married from 2000 to 2012 but they also divorced. Now he is single, and maybe he will find his third wife, who knows.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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