Dick Clark, who as the long-running host of television shows such as 'American Bandstand' and 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' brought rock and roll music into many people's homes for the first time, has died of a "massive heart attack" at age 82, according to TMZ.

Born Nov. 30, 1929 in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Clark began his long music business career at age 17 as a radio announcer for Utica's WRUN. He went on to become the host of 'American Bandstand' from 1956 to 1989. The program had a massive impact on pop culture, and provided the first national television exposure for an early generation of rockers, including Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly.

Classic rockers such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kiss and the Who would appear on 'Bandstand, ' New Year's Rockin' Eve' or his short-lived 'Where the Action Is' program over the years. In 1993 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A 2004 stroke left Clark unable to host 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' for the first time in 32 years, but he returned in a co-hosting role the next year and every year following. Clark leaves behind his wife, Kari Wington, a son, Richard Augustus II, with first wife Barbara Mallery and two children, Duane and Cindy, with second wife Loretta Martin.

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