Charlotte broadcast pioneer ‘Chatty’ Hattie Leeper dies at 98

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Hattie Massey Leeper, known in the broadcast industry as “Chatty Hatty,” was a pioneering deejay at WGIV radio in Charlotte. She died Oct. 13 at age 98.

Hattie Massey Leeper, a trailblazing radio broadcaster at Charlotte’s WGIV-AM, died Oct. 13 at age 98.

“Chatty Hatty,” as she was known professionally, was the first Black woman radio announcer in North Carolina and helped WGIV to new heights in bringing R&B music to Black audiences. She was also a concert promoter who booked acts like Sam Cooke, Aretha, James Brown, Patti LaBelle and the Jackson 5.

"Our grandmother was a trailblazer who believed in the power of her voice to connect people, celebrate music, and create opportunities for others," Hatiya Dunlap,

Leeper's granddaughter, said in a statement. "While generations of listeners knew her as 'Chatty Hatty,' to our family she was a woman of extraordinary determination, creativity, and faith. We are immensely proud of her contributions to broadcasting and the lasting legacy she leaves behind."

Born Sept. 4, 1928, in Edgemoor, South Carolina, Leeper was a 14-year-old student at Second Ward High School when she began started working at WGIV as a studio assistant. During an era of legal and social segregation that sidelined Black people to the margins, Leeper was a star at WGIV, where she became one of the top voices in southern radio.

As the only woman on the station’s otherwise all-male deejay lineup, Leeper held her own with hall of fame stationmates “Genial Gene” Potts, “Rocking Ray” Gooding and “Hound Dog” Pete Toomey.

Long before satellite radio and corporate takeovers of stations, locally owned outlets gave voice to communities and homegrown stars like Leeper who connected with them.  

“[I]t’s in your blood,” she said. “You don’t ever get it out if you’re sincere, if you like what you’re doing, and you didn’t feel that it was tiring. It wasn’t work. It was a fabulous thing to say, ‘I’m on my way to WGIV – 1600 at the top of your dial – where listening is always worth your while.’ You get off on stuff like that and every time you hit the airwaves, something new will come to you.”

Over an 18-year run at WGIV, WRPL, and WAYS, Leeper introducing listeners to breaking musical acts as well as, promoting community events. She promoted and booked some of the most influential R&B and gospel artists of the era, including James Brown, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Patti LaBelle, and Smokey Robinson.

Long after hanging up her microphone, Leeper was still sought after for perspective on her career. In 2023, the Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force hosted Leeper and other groundbreaking women of color as part of its Black Women in Radio Historic Collection and Oral History Project.

Such acknowledgments, Leeper told The Post, were always appreciated.

“It’s amazing how the word-of-mouth spread,” she said. “[I] don’t go out looking for publicity. It’s always referral. Somebody will say, ‘Have you ever met that lady that talks a lot, that’s on the microphone that lives in Charlotte? What was her name?’ And then they'll say, ‘Oh, yes, Chatty Hatty. That’s it. Do you know how to get in touch with her?’”

Leeper’s career arc extended beyond radio. She wrote and produced music, owned a record store, and taught at Johnson C. Smith University and Gaston College, where she retired as chair of the broadcast department. She later launched Chatty's School of Communications.

Leeper was inducted to the Black Radio Hall of Fame in 1989 and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2025. Her legacy is also preserved at a radio history exhibit at Levine Museum of the New South.

Funeral and memorial arrangements are being finalized and will be announced by the family later.

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