Byron MacGregor
| Byron MacGregor | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Gary Lachlan Mack March 3, 1948 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | January 3, 1995 (aged 46) Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Nationality | Canadian Held dual Canadian/American citizenships |
| Occupation | News director, News presenter, Radio personality, Television personality, recording artist |
| Years active | 1967–1995 |
| Known for | His spoken word recording of "The Americans" |
Byron MacGregor (March 3, 1948 – January 3, 1995) was a Canadian news anchor and news director.
Born Gary Lachlan Mack in Calgary, Alberta, he became, on his twenty-second birthday, the youngest news director at the AM radio station, CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, which also served Detroit, Michigan, as well as Toledo and Cleveland in Ohio and covered twenty-eight states and six provinces. This was during its "Big 8/20-20 News" period, and also around the time RKO General was forced to sell the station, due to a change in Canadian ownership rules that prohibited foreign firms from controlling Canadian licensed stations.
In 1973, he read a Toronto newspaper editorial written by Gordon Sinclair of CFRB in Toronto, a commentary about America. MacGregor then read the patriotic commentary on CKLW Radio as part of a public affairs program and, due to the huge response, he was asked to record "The Americans" with "America the Beautiful" performed by The Detroit Symphony Orchestra as the background music. Both MacGregor and Sinclair released recorded versions of the commentary. MacGregor's version of the record (released on Westbound Records) became a bigger hit than Sinclair's in the United States, reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of February 9, 1974. It became a gold record. In Canada, MacGregor's version hit #1, while Sinclair's hit #24. His recording has sold over three-and-a-half-million copies, and all of his proceeds have been donated to the American Red Cross. MacGregor was honored with the "National Americanism Award".
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