Charlie Chase (born October 19, 1952) is an American radio and television host best known for his work on

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

program ''

Crook & Chase ''Crook & Chase'' is an American television talk show hosted by Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on country music. The pair had first worked together on the weekly syndicated program "This Week In Coun ...

''.

Childhood

Chase was born October 19, 1952, in

Rogersville, Tennessee Rogersville is a town in and the county seat of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers (pioneer), Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest ...

. He attended school at Rogersville City School and began his radio career at age 13, working part-time—and later full-time—at WRGS AM 1370 Radio in Rogersville.

Early career

Chase graduated from Rogersville High School in 1970, after working on-air jobs as Program Director and Music Director at stations in

Kingsport Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, w ...

and

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. He moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1974, where he went to work at WMAK Radio (AM-1300), the city's top-rated station at the time. Later, he moved to the home of the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

, WSM AM 650, replacing

Pat Sajak Patrick Leonard Sajak ( ; né , born October 26, 1946) is an American game show host, television personality, and creative consultant. He is best known as the host of the television game show '' Wheel of Fortune'', a position which he held fr ...

when Sajak decided to pursue

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

(first as a full-time weather reporter for the station KNBC, then as the longtime host of Wheel of Fortune until 2024). While working at WSM Radio, Chase began doing music reports for WSM-TV (now WSMV) in Nashville. It led to his being offered the host position for the station's long-running midday magazine program in 1982.

Television career

It was during that stint that television producer Jim Owens got in contact with Chase and pitched the idea for the television show ''This Week in Country Music'', which was cohosted by Owens's soon-to-be wife

Lorianne Crook Lorianne Crook (born February 19, 1957) is an American radio and television host, producer, and writer, best known for her work on The Nashville Network programs ''This Week In Country Music'' and '' Crook & Chase'' with Charlie Chase. Early ...

and debuted in 1983. During this period, Chase also hosted and produced a series of specials: ''Funny Business with Charlie Chase'' and ''The Crook and Chase Show''. In September 1993, Chase released an album, ''My Wife… My Life'', on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. In October 2009, Charlie began to appear in television ads for the Hormone Replacement Center. On December 22, 2009, Charlie chose to leave ''Tennessee Mornings'' to care for an ailing family member.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Charlie 1952 births Living people People from Rogersville, Tennessee American television personalities Epic Records artists American radio DJs