Rhubarb Jones
Warren "Rhubarb" Jones was a DJ at WYAY "Eagle 106.7" in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the longest running morning radio personality in the Atlanta radio market, having been at the 106.7 spot on the FM dial From January 1985-February 29, 2008.
Life and career
Rhubarb was born in Miami and grew up in Tallapoosa, Georgia. His first job in radio was at WPID in Piedmont, Alabama.[1] He worked his way through West Georgia College by working in radio at WWCC in Bremen, Georgia. Upon graduation, Rhubarb moved to Columbus, Georgia and worked at WCLS. He later got into country music radio when he moved to WSKY AM in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1978, Rhubarb headed to WLWI-FM (I-92) in Montgomery, Alabama, where he served as program and music director and did the afternoon drive show.
Rhubarb is widely known for his charity events like the Rhubarb Jones Celebrity Golf Tournament for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and his annual March Across Georgia for the LLS. Rhubarb is also an Atlanta co-host for the annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon with WAGA TV 5 weathercaster Ken Cook. Jones has two daughters, Presley a freshman in high school and Callie a middle school student. Jones also has two sons from a previous marriage. McCoie Jones and David Jones. He has 2 grandsons and 2 grand daughters.
Rhubarb is a past winner of Radio Personality of the Year from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and has served on the board of directors for both organizations.[2] Jones is also a past Disc Jockey of the Year award recipient, from Billboard Magazine, and was voted one of Country Music's Top Radio Personalities of the Century by Radio and Records Magazine. Rhubarb is a lifetime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. He was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in June 2001. In 2007 Jones was one of the first inductees into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.
Jones has also had a few bit acting parts, such as television's In the Heat of the Night and movies Major League: Back to the Minors and Remember the Titans and also Clint Eastwood's Trouble with the Curve.
Jones was appointed to the Georgia State Board of Technical and Adult Education in 1998 and served as vice-chairman from 2003-2005. He served on the adult literacy committee of DTAE and on the board until January 2007. He also serves on the board of trustees of his college alma mater, the University of West Georgia. In May 2006, the UWG booster club honored him with the establishment of the Rhubarb Jones Scholarship for needy and deserving students at the University of West Georgia.
Jones holds a master of arts degree from Shorter College. He maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and was inducted into Sigma Beta Delta honor society of business, management, and administration in April 2006. In September 2006, Jones was appointed to the Board of Visitors of Shorter College, and in January 2007 was honored by being named in the Who's Who Among American Universities & Colleges.
At 10:30 a.m. on February 29, 2008, Rhubarb was dismissed from WYAY, along with 12 others from WYAY and sister station WKHX-FM. On April 21, 2008, it was announced that Rhubarb Jones is now a Senior Director of Development and a member of adjunct faculty as a Distinguished Lecturer at Kennesaw State University. mass communications at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. He also serves at Director of Special Projects for KSU as a Senior Development officer. August 16, 2014 Rhubarb began hosting a weekend show on KOOL Classic Hits WRBZ 95.5 in Montgomery. This teams up Rhubarb again with Don Day who he teamed up with in 1978 as part of the air staff at WLWI in Montgomery.
Rhubarb was a ring announcer for WCW in the early 1990s. Rhubarb Jones has a weekday show on Great Classics 98.9 (WWGA) that he does from his home studio in his hometown of Tallapoosa.
Rhubarb Jones also has a Progressive Funk Rock band in New Jersey named after him called "Rhubarb Jones"
References
- ↑ "RHUBARB JONES: Popular Disc Jockey Keeps the Country Sounds Coming". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. October 3, 1988. p. B1.
Certainly, it's bigger time than Mr. Jones's first radio job with WPID in Piedmont, Ala.
- ↑ "Broadcast Awards Database: Rhubarb Jones". Country Music Association. Retrieved January 7, 2009.