Remember my name: Brion O’Brion inducted to the National Black Radio Hall of Fame

If Brion O’Brion had a theme song, the Power 96.5 WQHH-FM program director and personality would walk into a room accompanied by “Fame,” the 1980 Oscar-winning song by the late pop icon Irene Cara.

As the chorus says, “Fame, I’m gonna live forever; baby remember my name.”

O’Brion’s name is going to be remembered; he was just inducted into the prestigious National Black Radio Hall of Fame class of 2026. 

The glamorous induction ceremony took place at Sonesta Charlotte Lower South End in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sept. 19. O’Brion was enshrined under the Talented Brothers of Radio Award category, a place where his name will be remembered and he will figuratively live forever. 

During his acceptance speech, O’Brion singled out his mentor Rick Partey.

“If it wasn’t for him – me starting out as his intern when I was 17 years old back in Norfolk, Virginia,” O’Brion said, “none of this would be possible. He was the first person I thanked during my acceptance speech.”

O’Brion’s career, he said, was built on being a life of the Partey.

That grounding and decades of experience helped to put O’Brion in the National Black Radio Hall of Fame alongside legends like Tom Joyner, Shirley Caesar, Funkmaster Flex, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Ed Lover, J. Anthony Brown, Chaka Khan and Stevie Wonder.

“It’s an honor to be mentioned with all those legends,” O’Brion said. “Sometimes I feel like I haven’t been doing it long enough, even though I have. To be in the Hall of Fame with some people I looked up to is humbling. I’m excited to have that honor. Some people say it’s nice to get your flowers while you’re still alive.

“That’s one thing that made me a little emotional, getting it while I’m still currently alive and in the radio business,” O’Brion continued. “There’s some people they give these awards to that have passed away; the posthumous awards. I’m glad I was able to accept it while I’ve still got air in my lungs.”

A product of Hampton, Virginia, O’Brion’s radio career spans 38 years and he’s still counting. He got his start taking deep breaths as an intern with Norfolk station WOWI 103 Jams, formally HOT 103. Gaining critical experience as his career progressed, O’Brion said he hit his stride while working in Ocean City and Salisbury in Maryland.

“I had a program director there named Wookie who taught me a lot,” O’Brion said. “I was still in my early-to-mid-twenties. Then I was rolling!”

O’Brion’s roll led to his current magnetism for celebrity engagement, a trait he shares with many of his Hall of Fame peers. Top stars regularly align their publicity schedules with his availability. 

“I used to work for two stations in Louisiana where I became program director for both, and I think there is where things started picking up when it came to meeting celebrities,” O’Brion said. “I met a lot of them in New Orleans going to the  Essence Festival and things of that nature. I got a chance to meet a lot of important people there.”

O’Brion said he plans to use the nomination to continue making an impact on Power 96.5, where he has been program director since January 2025, and to continue to reach his community of listeners.

“I always try to help the talent I have here working for me,” O’Brion said. “My goal is to get them to the next level. I want them to grow and expand to get to bigger and better places. I try to pay it forward. That’s how it was done for me.”

Let’s listen back to O’Brion’s potential theme song, “Fame,” which begins: “Baby, look at me and tell me what you see. You ain’t seen the best of me yet.”