Veteran Atlanta radio DJ Mitch Faulkner Dies
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Funeral services were held Saturday for veteran Atlanta radio DJ Mitch Faulkner who died June 27th of cardiac arrest. Faulkner was 64. His vast career spanned three decades as Faulkner could be heard on numerous Atlanta radio stations including jazz station 91.9/WCLK-FM, former R&B station 1570/WIGO-AM, V-103, and Kiss 104.1. He also served as creative director of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” for a time.
Faulkner was nicknamed ‘The Voice” and was known for his radio production prowess and his skills at cutting promos. He did voice-over and imaging work for TV stations, ad campaigns, and hundreds of radio stations worldwide, including stations in London, Nigeria, Brazil, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Denmark. Faulkner provided the voice for Janet Jackson’s “Control” tour in 1987 and Tyler Perry’s early stage plays.
Faulkner was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in 2018. But given his level of modesty, he chose not to attend the ceremony, working his weekend shift on Classix 102.9 that night instead.
Faulkner grew up in the small town of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where his older brother Arvester got him interested in recording equipment. Arvester was working at 11Alive in Atlanta when his younger brother followed him to the city and soon nabbed a series of jobs at multiple radio stations, including powerhouse FM station V-103.
In 1987, Mitch Faulkner became the first program director of the new R&B station Kiss 104.7, which would later move to 104.1. He would work on and off with Kiss over the next three decades. In the late 1980s, Mitch Faulkner started On Mic Productions with Arvester. It eventually became Faulkner’s primary job.
Arvester said his brother’s other passion was motorcycles. He rode for numerous charities and organized rides for 100 Black Men, the Leukemia Foundation, and the National Prostate Awareness Association.
Faulkner suffered a tear in his aorta in 2019 and soon after, his kidneys failed him. Forced to do dialysis for the past three years, the pandemic delayed his efforts to get a kidney transplant, Arvester said.
Faulkner is survived by his three sons Mitch II, Matthew, and Isaiah.