Jed the Fish

Edwin Jed Fish Gould III (July 15, 1955 – April 14, 2025), known to radio listeners as Jed the Fish, was an American disc jockey who hosted afternoon drive on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles,^[1] from 1978 to 2012. He interviewed alternative acts such as Brian Eno, David Bowie, Sting, and Elvis Costello.^{[citation needed]} An early supporter of new wave and alternative bands, Jed the Fish is reputed to have been the first U.S. DJ to play Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and The Pretenders^{[citation needed]}, and thus having helped KROQ establish itself as an influential radio station of the 1980s and 1990s.^[2]

Jed the Fish
Born	Edwin Jed Fish Gould III (1955-07-15)July 15, 1955 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	April 14, 2025(2025-04-14) (aged 69) Pasadena, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Career
Style	Disc jockey
Country	United States

Early life

Edwin Jed Fish Gould III was born on July 15, 1955,^[3] in Los Angeles,^[4] and grew up in the beach cities of Orange County, California, and later Casa Grande, Arizona.^[3][4]

Career

Jed the Fish began his radio broadcasting career while being a student at Casa Grande High School.^[4] He earned his First Class Radiotelephone Operator License in 1971 at age 16, programming and hosting a radio program targeted at the "youth market"^[5] on KPIN-AM.

From 1994 to July 2013, Jed hosted the nationally syndicated show Out of Order.^[6][7] Out of Order was two hours long and was syndicated by Dial Global.

From 2012 to 2018 Jed the Fish was also an air personality at radio station KCSN,^[8] where he programmed his own show.

In 2018, he became a DJ at Los Angeles' KLOS.^[9]

In February 2019, Jed the Fish joined the Roq of the 80s lineup on KROQ HD2 station on radio.com (now audacy.com) on Sundays from 6pm to midnight PST.^[10][11]

In addition to his on-air work, Jed the Fish produced the Southern California punk band El Centro's debut album in 1995^[12] and the remix track “Thing” on Meg Lee Chin’s^[13] Junkies and Snakes in 2000.

Personal life and death

In 1994, Jed the Fish purchased a 1894 Queen Anne Victorian estate home in Pasadena, California. The estate was featured in Lucille Ball's 1968 film Yours, Mine and Ours.^[14]

Jed the Fish was a graduate of USC's Annenberg School of Journalism with a bachelor of arts degree in broadcast journalism in 1978.^[15] He was also a drummer, sitting in on drums for John Dolmayan during the KROQ Weenie Roast performance of System of a Down in 2002.^[16]

In 1989, he was off the air for two months while he sought treatment for drug addiction.^[4]

Jed the Fish was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in March 2025, though he had never smoked.^[4] He died from the disease at his home in Pasadena, on April 14, 2025, at the age of 69.^[17][18]

Awards

In 1997 and 1999, Jed was awarded the Billboard Modern Rock Personality of the Year award.^[3]

In 1998, Jed received an award for the Radio & Records Local Modern Rock Personality of the Year.^[3]

Jed the Fish was awarded Billboard's Major Market Alternative Radio Personality of the year in 1998 and 2000 (in 1999 his co-workers Kevin and Bean received the same award).^{[citation needed]} He won Album Network's Alternative All Stars award for Virtuallyalternative Radio Personality in 1999 and 2000.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, he tied for 8th place along with former 102.7 KIIS-FM DJ Rick Dees as one of LA Radio's top ten most influential radio people described as “amazingly inventive” and "the best pure disc jockey in Los Angeles".^[19]

Other media

• Jed the Fish is shown on the cover of Reel Big Fish's album, Turn The Radio Off^[20]
• Jed the Fish appears as himself in the game show "Win, Lose, or Draw: KRTH vs KROQ" in 1988^[21]
• Jed the Fish appears as a Radio Announcer in the film Night Angel in 1990^{[citation needed]}
• Jed the Fish appears as himself in 1984 in Surf II ^{[citation needed]}
• Jed the Fish appears as himself in the 2003 documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, about Rodney Bingenheimer.^{[citation needed]}