Jim Ladd, disc jockey who was inspiration for Tom Petty’s ‘The Last DJ,’ dead at 75

Jim Ladd, a longtime FM disc jockey in Los Angeles and host of SiriusXM’s “Deep Tracks” classic rock channel, died Saturday. He was 75.

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Ladd, who was a staple of FM rock in Southern California since the 1970s, died at his home in Carmichael, California of a heart attack, the Los Angeles Times reported. His death was announced on the air Monday by SiriusXM colleague Meg Griffin, according to the newspaper.

Ladd was known as the inspiration behind Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 2002 album, “The Last DJ,” Variety reported. The free-form disc jockey mirrored the subjects featured in Petty’s album, “who plays what he wants to play. And says what he wants to say.”

Griffin said that Ladd’s wife, Helene Lodge-Ladd, had asked her to announce the news at the start of his show that aired live on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Deadline reported. It was Ladd’s first national program.

“I am so sorry for the shock that just hit you as you are listening right now,” Griffin told listeners on Deep Tracks. “He never stopped caring. He delivered the truth. He lived for the music, and I am blessed to have worked with him.”

Ladd started his career as a radio personality and disc jockey in 1969, spending time at KNAC and 95.5 KLOS before moving on to KMET-FM.

At KMET, Ladd helped the station become the top-rated station in the Los Angeles area, Variety reported. He was ranked as the No. 1 on-air personality in his time slot in eight of his nine years at the station, the entertainment news website reported.

He also hosted the radio program “Innerview” on KMET, according to Variety. He interviewed high-profile musicians including John Lennon, Stevie Nicks and Pink Floyd. The show aired weekly over 160 stations and was hosted by Ladd for 12 years.

Ladd specialized in free-form rock formats that were made possible by a FCC ruling in 1964 that stated that large-market AM radio stations could not duplicate more than 50% of their programming on an FM station, the Times reported.

The rule led to album-oriented rock on FM stations.

Ladd later criticized the commercialization of FM radio, expressing disdain for management who preferred restricted playlists, according to the newspaper.

“I spent 20 years being called on the general manager’s carpet for speaking my beliefs,” Ladd told the Times in a 1991 interview.

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