Windsor

Legendary radio hitmaker Rosalie Trombley dead at 82

Rosalie Trombley, the influential radio music director who was known as the girl with the golden ear, has died.

Trombley was known as 'the girl with the golden ear' for breaking new artists, hits

Rosalie Trombley was known as the girl with the golden ear

3 years ago
Duration 1:04
CREDIT: The Rise & Fall of the Big 8/Markham Street Films Inc..

Rosalie Trombley, the influential Windsor radio music director who was known as the girl with the golden ear, has died.

Trombley became the music director at AM800 CKLW in 1968, when the station played Top 40 songs. She became very well known on both sides of the border as a tastemaker in the industry.

"Recording artists, both established and aspiring, visited Trombley to promote their latest single releases," Trombley's family said in a media release, adding that she is credited with breaking artists such as The Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith onto the charts.

Trombley was also the inspiration behind the 1970s Bob Seger song bearing her name. Trombley won the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the Junos in 2016.

Rosalie Trombley is seen in an undated photo from the University of Windsor Archives.
Rosalie Trombley is seen in an undated photo from the University of Windsor archives. (Leddy Library Archives & Special Collections, University of Windsor)

The family said a private service will be held at a later date.

Trombley died on Tuesday, according to a statement from her family. She was 82. A cause of death was not disclosed.