Carney, James
James "Moby" Carney, a popular Atlanta country music radio morning host in the 1990s and 2000s, died Wednesday at age 69, his family announced.
The long-time Roswell resident and inductee into the Country Radio Hall of Fame and the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame was a dominant force on Kicks 101.5 (WKHX-FM) from 1991 to 2012.
Moby was in radio for more than 40 years, going back to his small hometown of Crossville, Tennessee, with blue-collar parents. He picked up the nickname Moby when he was 12 when he almost drowned in a lake and someone said he looked like Moby Dick splashing around in the water.
At 15, he landed his first radio job at WCSV-AM in Crossville playing Sunday morning gospel music for $1.60 per hour. He attended Belmont College - now Belmont University - in Nashville after high school and planned to major in music education. But partway through, he quit and went into radio full time.
Before coming to Atlanta, he worked at stations in Nashville, Tampa, Dallas and Houston, where he became a popular rock jock in the 1980s.
He is survived by his wife Mary Beth, son Jonah and daughter Grace.
Read more about James "Moby" Carney on ajc.com
