Fact #104264

Controversial American radio deejay and music business entrepreneur Alan Freed dies aged 43, penniless, in hospital in Palm Springs, California, USA, from uremia and cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism. Freed's career was ended after his involvement in the payola scandal of the early 1960s. He is mentioned in The Ramones' song Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? as one of the band's idols in rock'n'roll. Freed also crops up in Ballrooms Of Mars by Marc Bolan, They Used To Call It Dope by Public Enemy, Payola Blues by Neil Young, Done Too Soon by Neil Diamond, The Ballad of Dick Clark by Skip Battin, and The King Of Rock n' Roll by Cashman And West on their 1973 ABC album Moondog Serenade.