Mike Breen
On May 5, 2020, Kurt Loder, the longtime “anchor” of MTV’s music and pop culture news coverage, turned 75. And the internet was shook.
“How is Loder 75??!!,” Tonight Show/Roots drummer Questlove posted on Instagram. “Wowsers.”
Numerous people who grew up watching Loder echoed Questlove’s shock on social media, in disbelief that the writer/reporter is older than most of their parents.
But it’s true — Loder was born on May 5, 1945 in Ocean City, New Jersey. He began his career as a music journalist, writing and serving as an editor for publications like Circus and Rolling Stone. Loder also co-authored Tina Turner’s best-selling 1986 autobiography, I, Tina.
In 1987, Loder joined MTV to host its music news program The Week in Rock and he would often anchor MTV News’ newsbreaks that aired throughout the day, joined by other personalities, like Tabitha Soren and Alison Stewart.
Loder is an indelible part of the memories of many who watched MTV in the ’80s and ’90s. Before the internet was widely available, he was often the person who relayed “breaking” pop culture news to millions. Loder is how many people first heard about the deaths of ’90s icons like Biggie Smalls and Kurt Cobain, for example. (Loder was 48 years old when he reported on Cobain’s death.)
He was also in the middle of some less important news happenings, like when Courtney Love and Madonna openly feuded during the pre-show of the MTV Movie Awards in 1995.
Loder maintains a lower profile these days, but he is still active. In 2011, he released a collection of his film reviews titled The Good, the Bad and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews and in 2016 he began hosting a show on Sirius XM radio called True Stories, where he interviewed music figures like Neil Diamond and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. In 2013 he appeared as himself on the TV comedy series Portlandia.
Loder is still very active on Twitter, as well. Follow him!
