Dayna Steele

Born Dayna Frances Nicholson. Dayna graduated from Dulles High School at the tender age of 16. She enrolled at Texas A&M University as a pre-med student before changing her major to theater.

On a dare, Nicholson tried out for the new student run radio station at Texas A&M University. She began her career in 1977 at KAMU and after a few months moved to Top 40 WTAW (“92W” 92.1FM) in Bryan, Texas. In 1978 she left Texas A&M University early to pursue her career as a major market radio disc jockey.

Dayna’s first big break came just after she turning 18 and began working at KRLY (Y94) in Houston. Over the next twenty years Dayna Steele became synonymous with Houston radio, lending her voice to CHR/Top 40 104 KRBE (1979-1981), 97 Rock (KSRR) (1981-1982) and AOR rocker 101 KLOL where she became known as “The First Lady of Rock ‘n Roll.” Steele was featured as one of the top female disc jockeys in the country on the Friday Morning Quarterback “Women of Rock”.

That next year, Steele was nominated as Radio Air Personality of the Year by Billboard Magazine. Of the five nominees, Steele was the only woman to be nominated. In 2010, Steele was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. The following photos were graciously donated by Dayna Steele from her personal collection. Thanks Dayna!

Editors Note: Portions of this article were compiled from the Dayna Steele Wikipedia page. You can read the entire article here.