Ralph Barbieri

Barbieri was a stringer for Sport magazine before he joined KNBR in 1984 at the sports news desk. He was later given his own sports talk show and transferred to the prime afternoon-time slot.^[4] In 1996, he was teamed with Tolbert, a former NBA player. Barbieri's nickname was "The Razor" because of his raspy voice,^[7] thought by some listeners to resemble a barber's electric razor and his "no-nonsense" approach to interviews. The nickname, which may have also been inspired by his surname's resemblance to "barber", was given to him by longtime San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen.^[8]

Barbieri was described as a "bulldog of an interviewer" who exuded an "opinionated" and "abrasive" interviewing style.^[9] At the same time, his critics took the view that his questions were long-winded and restrained, which he said enabled listeners to get a better grasp of the people he was interviewing.^[4] In 2007, Barbieri renewed his four-year contract with KNBR through November 2011.^[8] Barbieri was known to end his show with, "Angels fly because they take themselves lightly", a quote from G. K. Chesterton.^[4]

In 2011, Barbieri disclosed to KNBR and the public that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2005.^[10] On April 11, 2012, the 66-year-old Barbieri was let go by KNBR.^[11] KNBR's parent company, Cumulus Media, said he "refused to honor some of the most basic terms of his contract".^[12] Barbieri's legal team cited age discrimination and disability discrimination in the termination.^[12] In 2013, he settled with Cumulus for an undisclosed amount, reportedly over $1 million.^[4][13]

Barbieri was a vegetarian, a believer in animal rights, and a follower of eastern religious philosophies.^[14] In 1995, he avoided jail time by pleading no contest to a third-offense drunk driving charge; he spent 120 days in a residential treatment program.^[15] Following the incident, Barbieri settled down, giving up what he called "25 years of sex, drugs and rock and roll". In 2000, Barbieri fathered a son, Tayte Ali, via In vitro fertilisation, using an egg donor and a surrogate mother.^[14] In 2004, the American Diabetes Association named Ralph Barbieri one of five "Bay Area Father of the Year" award winners.^[16]

Barbieri died on August 3, 2020, at his home in Novato, California. He was 74, and suffered from Parkinson's disease since he was diagnosed in 2005.^[4][9]