The River’s English Nick becomes American citizen after nearly 30 years
Nick Parsons, known on Atlanta radio for a quarter century as English Nick, became an American citizen earlier this month.
“People are joking that they need to call me American Nick now,” he said. Last week on “The Von Haessler Doctrine” a WSB Radio show on which he occasionally appears, cast members jokingly dubbed him “Naturalized Nick.”
But on rock station 97.1 The River, where he has been mid-day host since 2016, he will remain English Nick.
“That name has been around too long to go away now,” he said.
The naturalization ceremony in Tucker, he said, was emotional. He teared up.
“I have spent more time in the United States than England,” he said. “It’s now been 30 years. I was in England 28 years. The scales have tipped!” (He will keep dual citizenship.)
The man who presided over the naturalization ceremony was a Haitian immigrant who served years in the Marines, English Nick said. “He made everyone feel welcome and relaxed.”
He said he sensed the relief in the room as the ceremony concluded.
“I’m sure some of them went through hell and high water with immigration compared to me,” he said.
English Nick grew up on a sheep farm listening to Slade, the Jam and Led Zeppelin. He moved stateside in 1996 because he fell in love with an American. They married, but that relationship didn’t last.
His love affair with the United States, though, didn’t wane. He landed a visa in 1999, which enabled him to work in radio, starting in promotions at Atlanta’s 96 Rock. When he began landing on-air shifts, program director Tim Dukes gave him the moniker English Nick.
Much to his amusement, listeners over the years have questioned the veracity of his accent.
“People would call in and say I was faking it,” he said. “Why would I do that? I grew up in the west, near Bristol. I think people think of British accents like Posh Spice or Jason Statham’s northern accent. People to this day ask if I’m from Ireland or Australia. It’s not the accent they’re used to hearing in movies and TV.”
At 96 Rock, he largely did fill-in work, unable to land a regular shift. Rock 100.5 gave him an evening shift, but he lost that gig in 2009. The River, which launched in Atlanta in 2006, picked English Nick up in 2011 to work weekends and voice track evenings. In 2016, he became The River’s very first jock during the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. slot.
He received his first permanent resident card (also known as a green card) in 2006, which lasts 10 years. He renewed it in 2016.
With his latest green card renewal coming up next year, he finally decided to apply for U.S. citizenship. “I’m getting older and wanted the ability to vote now,” he said.
On Sept. 16, he easily passed his citizenship civics test after prepping via the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services app. It’s an oral test, and applicants have to correctly answer six out of 10 questions off the top of their head (no multiple choice) from a pool of 100 questions. He answered the first six correctly, so the employee testing him didn’t bother with the next four.
Among the questions he recalled:
— Who is one of your state’s U.S. Senators now? (He said Jon Ossoff).
— Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II? (Franklin Delano Roosevelt.)
— Who did the United States fight in World War II? (Italy, Germany and Japan)
— If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President? (Speaker of the House of Representatives.)
“A lot of Americans can’t answer these questions,” he said.
With this milestone out of the way, English Nick is just happy to be an Atlanta radio fixture. In fact, he believes his accent has benefited him on The River, which was ranked No. 1 in the market based on the most recent July Nielsen rankings.
“It helps me stand out,” he said. “When the station does research, I’m often the most popular guy. Listeners know who I am.”
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
