The Great Daryl Nathan has Died
Wearing his long haired wig and singing along to his Yamaha electronic keyboard, "The Great Daryl Nathan" was a big public access television star in Grand Rapids back in the 90s.
It was posted on his fan Facebook page that the entertainer has passed away.
Daryl was 54 years old. No word on just when he passed away or what caused his death. A Celebration of Life Service was held for Daryl (or Darel) last Saturday, August 1st.
Information on his Facebook fan page describe The Great Daryl Nathan as: "a public-access superstar in the mid-90s, charming audiences with his offbeat image and catchy songs. A testament to his greatness, Daryl still has many fans today."
Here are a few of his songs...
We talked about Daryl a lot on our morning show back in the 90s on "The Rick and Scott Show" on 97.9 WGRD. We tried to get an interview with him on several occasions but, surprisingly, he really didn't like media attention.
At one point he showed up at the radio station, on his bike, and told management that he didn't want us talking about him anymore. (We had already left for the day and never had the opportunity to meet with him.)
There is actually a short documentary on "The Great Daryl Nathan"...
GRTV, the public access station for Grand Rapids and surrounding areas, had a Great Daryl Nathan Marathon on Tuesday as a tribute to Daryl.
JoJo Girard did a blog post about Daryl a year ago, featuring The Great Daryl Nathan and his song about the Fourth of July.