Gospel radio host remembered for faith, music and mentorship in Kansas City
Reggie Brown, the longtime Kansas City gospel radio host known to listeners as Reggie B., built a ministry that reached well beyond the studio walls, offering comfort and encouragement through a voice many in the community came to trust like family.
His daughter, Porcha Brown, grew up watching her father set the standard for what she believed a good person should be. He not only went on air as a radio host to reach people who needed words of kindness, but also modeled that care in everyday life through how he interacted with others.
“He taught me to always be kind and polite,” she said. “He always went out of his way to talk to people and show them kindness.”
Brown, a radio host and musician, died Dec. 20. He was 63.
Brown hosted The Joy of Gospel on Hot 103 Jamz and was a familiar presence on Gospel 1590 AM and 106.1 FM. In Kansas City, his name became closely tied to gospel radio, both through his on-air work and through years of leadership behind the scenes.
Myron Fears, program director at Carter Broadcast Group, hired Brown and worked with him for decades. He remembers how, from the start, Brown was always pushing to expand the station’s reach and bring in new listeners.
“He came up here October of 1996 and started,” Fears said. “He was the initial and only program director for KGGN-AM, which was 890 AM, from October of 1996 until the fall of 2015.”
Fears said Brown joined Carter Broadcast Group after KGGN went off the air, continuing to work in radio while staying connected to the gospel community.
Daughter remembers gospel radio host’s impact
Porcha Brown is still absorbing the scale of her father’s reach, particularly after hearing from community members who credited him with helping them through tough times when they needed encouragement, guidance and support.
“I knew the amount of people he interacted with, but I just didn’t know the scope,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is a lot more people than I thought.’”
As she remembers her father’s life, she emphasized his priorities at home and in faith.
“I will say that he was a family man and a man of God first,” she said. “Just always about family, and really making sure that he tried to walk the talk and live the life that he was presenting to people.”
His daughter and Fears traced his path into radio to a lifelong relationship with church and music. Brown said the family is originally from Terrell, Texas, and that her father got his start in Dallas. Her grandfather preached and her grandmother worked as the congregation’s pianist, setting an early foundation for her father.
Brown said her father picked up instruments as a child and built a musical identity that later translated into broadcasting. She described radio as a form of ministry for him, distinct from the pulpit.
“That was his way of going into ministry, because he did not want to go into preaching,” she said. “So that was his way of preaching the word.”
Fears similarly described Brown as someone whose professional interests were rooted in sound and music. He said Brown began his radio career in Dallas, later working in gospel radio before relocating to Kansas City. Fears said Brown’s connection to broadcasting was also tied to his love of audio.
“He always liked sound,” Fears said. “So he just loved music and sound and radio, and he followed his dreams.”
Those who worked with Brown described an on-air personality built on approachability rather than performance. Fears described Brown’s style as sounding like someone people could easily relate to.
At home, his daughter remembered that same warmth was paired with humor. She described him as a jokester whose timing and delivery made it hard to tell when he was serious.
“He was a jokester. Always joking,” she said. “You just never know when a joke is going to come out and sometimes you have to say, are you being serious or are you joking right now? Because I cannot tell.”
She said those moments are part of what she expects to miss most, including small family habits like exchanging playful looks across a room. This practice became a sort of inside language they used to convey their thoughts without saying a word.
“They were just these random, playful looks that you give each other,” she said. “Something would happen and we would just look at each other and know what the other was thinking or about to say.”
Brown said her father’s work life extended far beyond a microphone. She described him as a “jack of all trades,” someone who could troubleshoot nearly anything and who expected work to be done correctly. In addition to radio, she said he was a working musician, mainly on the piano, and served churches in both Dallas and Kansas City, including roles as a minister of music. She said he also ran an audio business and worked on computers in his free time.
She believes her father’s influence shaped her own interests in music. She said she has considered DJing and learned a little keyboard, and she had already been thinking about returning to it even before his death.
‘One of the best gospel musicians and radio hosts in KC’
Fears described Brown’s role inside the station as both social and stabilizing, especially among staff who worked weekends. He said Brown’s presence was felt not only in the broadcast schedule, but in everyday routines.
“I will miss his laughter,” Fears said. “Reggie was just a fun, loving person.”
Fears said Brown often worked weekends on the company’s AM station KPRT and was widely liked across departments.
Fears also said Brown’s standing in the gospel community was evident at his funeral, which included a musical tribute during the homegoing service.
Fears said Brown’s death also impacted the station and will be deeply missed by his radio family and across the Kansas City broadcast community. Since his death, the station has renamed a studio within their broadcasting headquarters in his honor.
Brown said the family has heard from people who viewed her father as a mentor and an example, extending his influence beyond blood relatives. She described that impact as a kind of expansion, rooted in the relationships he built through music and broadcasting.
“I think his legacy will be remembered as one of the best gospel musicians and radio hosts in KC,” she said. “Everything that he instilled in us will continue to live on.”
