CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Nisei Lounge operator Patrick Odon opened the Wrigleyville bar early on Monday morning. They played WXRT over the speakers as they welcomed longtime listeners of Lin Brehmer, the legendary XRT radio host who passed away Sunday.
“Lin Brehmer pitched a perfect game in Chicago,” Odon said. “Nobody ever had a bad time with our best friend in the whole world.”
Those at Nisei Lounge gathered and reflected as XRT deejays shared some of their favorite on-air Lin moments. The listeners had some memories of their own.
“I was really heartbroken to hear about Lin because I feel like I’ve been listening to him my entire life, and I kind of feel like it’s always been that sound of comfort, and he had such a warm voice and happy energy,” said one.
“You know, he was everyone’s best friend,” a fan said. “That mantra is so spot-on for him.”
“You’d see him around, he was everybody’s friend, so you’d chat him up when you’d see him at G-Man or the other places on Clark Street, or in the neighborhood, but he always looked so happy to be Lin Brehmer in Chicago,” another man said.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house at Nisei as the surviving deejays at XRT were heard sharing their memories of Brehmer over the speakers.
But there were laughs, too.
“Hilarious Lin story, because they always are: The first time I met him was 2003, Murphy’s Bleachers,” recalled a listener. “This middle-aged white man comes in and climbs to the top of a pillar on their patio, which is not encouraged at any bar, by the way, people. He goes, ‘I’ve got six tickets to the Police concert in Grant Park — finish these Police lyrics.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s gotta be Lin Brehmer.’”
One listener said she was lucky to have listened to Brehmer, simply for the inspiration he gave her.
“I’m an english teacher — and I told him this — I outright stole his Lin’s Bin assignment, and I use it in my class, to this day,” she said. “Well, not this day, because I ditched school to be here. This is exactly what we needed, to be with other like-minded people and listening to this broadcast. I think he would approve that I ditched school today.”
Another memory: “I remember, after the 2003 NLCS, the radio came on at 8 a.m., and the first thing that came off that radio was Lin Brehmer going, ‘It’s going to be OK.’”
All tips received at Nisei on Monday were donated to charity in Brehmer’s honor.
Meanwhile, many from the music world shared tributes to Brehmer on social media.
Steve Albini, musician and founder of Electric Audio in Chicago, honored Brehmer through a Twitter thread, featuring a song by the name of “The End of Radio.”
“Lin’s manner on the radio was exemplary,” Albini wrote. “He was just there to let you know what you were listening to … There are thousands of people in our city who loved Lin … and whenever they crossed paths with him, his affect and identity were the same. It was legitimately *him* that you liked.”
Chicago’s own Wilco also took to Twitter to honor Brehmer, who introduced the band at many a show in the city.
“The Chicago airwaves will never be the same,” they wrote. “Forever loved, forever missed.”
Los Lobos posted their tribute to Twitter, along with a beaming photo of Brehmer.
“His smile, when he got up and played maracas with us at his birthday party, could’ve lit up Wrigley,” they wrote. “Rest in peace our brother.
Brehmer would often spin records by The Record Company on XRT, as well. The band’s official account tweeted, in part:
“Pure walking magic, an encyclopedia of music, and a friend to all,” the band wrote. “Our condolences to all who knew Lin and the whole city of Chicago.”
Lin Brehmer, Chicago’s best friend in the whole world, dead at the age of 68.
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