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| Tommy Smith |
Tommy Smith, the self-styled radio “Outlaw” for 40 years at KMJX-FM and KABZ 103.7 The Buzz, could hardly speak above a whisper Wednesday when he called to discuss retirement plans after a long, irreverent career that made him both famous and infamous in Arkansas.
“My myasthenia gravis is making it hard to talk, and I’m about to be called in to the doctor’s office,” he told Arkansas Business last week. “Maybe my voice will hold out for my last nine or 10 shifts on the air.”
A morning drive-time attraction for most of his career, Smith is scheduled to make his last appearance with co-host David Bazzel on The Buzz’s “Show With No Name” on Wednesday, Dec. 29. Smith had already been scheduled to retire in April 2022.
It looks to be the final sign-off for a provocative figure who ruled the local ratings for almost two decades but also ran afoul of station owners, decency monitors and the FCC.
At 67, Smith says age was starting to tell on him even before his symptoms worsened from myasthenia gravis, a condition marked by a breakdown in communication between nerves and muscles. Common effects include weakness, drooping eyelids and trouble speaking and chewing.
In a statement released by The Buzz on Tuesday, Smith said station owner Signal Media had “gone above and beyond to take care of me” over 17 years, including stints of rehabilitation after an on-air collapse in 2010 and a driving while intoxicated conviction in 2011.
“But my speaking problems have become overwhelming, and I think it's time to pass the torch. Radio has been very, very good to me, I am deeply saddened that it had to end this way, but I want to thank the listeners, advertisers and all my co-workers for their support over many years on the air," the statement said.
An Arkansas native, Smith worked for KMJX, a rock station known as Magic 105, for more than 20 years before moving to Signal Media's Buzz in 2004.
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