Gary Beaty (born August 25, 1943) is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

and television announcer in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He served as a disc jockey at Nashville's WSM AM/ -FM and as an announcer on The Nashville Network (TNN) and

RFD-TV RFD-TV is an American pay television channel owned by Rural Media Group, Inc. The channel features programming devoted to rural issues, concerns and interests. The channel's name is a reference to Rural Free Delivery, the name for the United Sta ...

Early career

Gary Beaty, the youngest of four children, was born in Jamestown, Tennessee to Winsted and Roxie Beaty. Beaty got his start in radio as a teenager at Jamestown's

WCLC (AM) WCLC was a broadcast radio station licensed to Jamestown, Tennessee, serving Jamestown and the vicinity. WCLC was owned and operated by New Life Studios, Inc. and it simulcast their programming from sister station WCLC-FM "New Life 105". This sta ...

. While attending college at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

-Knoxville, Beaty worked part-time at WBIR. He then continued working as either a DJ, news director, or music director for a variety of smaller stations such as WMTS and

WGNS WGNS (1450 AM) is a radio station based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States. The call letters are an acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from ...

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

WMSR (AM) WMSR (1320 Hertz, kHz, "Thunder Radio") is an American commercial broadcasting, broadcast AM radio, AM radio station licensed to serve the city of license, community of Manchester, Tennessee. The station's broadcast license is held by Coffee Count ...

in Manchester, Tennessee, and

WKGN WKGN is an AM radio station licensed to Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded by Clarence Beaman, Jr. It first signed on the air September 28, 1947. After various format changes, including a Spanish format, WKGN became an all sports station. In ...

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. From 1967-1972 Beaty worked on a staff with nationally known DJ Hall of Famer Scott Shannon at

WMAK WMAK (1570 AM) is an American country radio station licensed to serve Lobelville, Tennessee, with studios in downtown Linden, Tennessee. Currently acting as a full-time simulcast of co-owned WOPC, the station's broadcast license is held b ...

. Afterward, Beaty took a job at WBSR in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

and then moved on to

WAAY WAAY-TV (channel 31) is a television station in Huntsville, Alabama, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Allen Media Broadcasting. The station's studios and transmitter are located on Monte Sano Boulevard on top of Monte Sano Mounta ...

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

. It was at WAAY where Beaty had his first experience in TV, working as a weekend weatherman for WAAY-TV.

WSM and TNN (1976-2000)

In 1976, Beaty returned to Nashville to work as a full-time disc jockey on WSM's AM and FM stations. At The Nashville Network (TNN), Beaty served as the announcer for ''

Nashville Now ''Nashville Now'' was an American talk show that focused on country music performers in the style of ''The Tonight Show''. The show aired live on weeknights on TNN from 1983–1993. The host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The sho ...

'' from 1983-1993, occasionally filling in for the host, well-known country music, national and Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame member Ralph Emery. Coincidentally, Beaty was the fill-in host for the show when

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

, and

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

all made their cable network debuts. In the late 1980s, Beaty also co-hosted an afternoon show on TNN featuring music videos called Video PM alongside Cathy Martindale. From 1985-1991, Beaty acted as co-host of the syndicated telecasts of three Farm Aid concerts and also announced two years of Hee Haw. During this time, Beaty achieved a grand slam record by announcing The

Academy of Country Music Awards The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...

, The GMA Dove Awards, The TNN/Music City News Awards, and the

Country Music Association Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

, all in a single season.

Present career

Since leaving the Gaylord Entertainment Company, Beaty has kept busy freelancing on multiple commercial and industrial projects. From 1996–present, Beaty has become known as the "Iron Man of Nashville commercial television," with over 1000 consecutive weekly live telecasts for a Nashville automobile dealer on NewsChannel 5

WTVF WTVF (channel 5) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television owned-and-operated station WNPX-TV (channel 28). WTVF's studios are located ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaty, Gary 1943 births Living people American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Tennessee American radio DJs University of Tennessee alumni People from Jamestown, Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Tennessee