150 Celebrities in One: Ben Campbell

University of Mississippi, Class of ’90 alumni, Ben Campbell

Not many people enjoy spontaneity quite like Ben Campbell (’90). The Atlanta native moved to Nashville with his family at the age of 15, and that is where his interest in the University of Mississippi developed.

“I toured all of the SEC schools, and I figured Ole Miss would be where I would have the best time,” Campbell said. “I was not necessarily thinking about the future. I went there as a four-year vacation from reality.”

It was with his good humor that he found one of his true passions in life — doing impressions. Campbell felt that the two options he could pursue would be either stand-up comedy or radio. Ultimately, he decided that radio would be a better fit and he graduated from Ole Miss with a broadcast degree in 1990.

“I’ve always been fascinated by radio, because it is like a theater in your mind,” Campbell said. “I like painting pictures with sound, which is what I am able to do with radio.”

Campbell’s broadcast career took him to his first job out of college at an independent television production company in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of his first assignments was working on a country music dance show as a cameraperson. On multiple occasions, he was asked to warm up the crowd with his impressions before the show, which would eventually lead him to his first big break into radio.

On one particular night, a saleswoman from a local radio station happened to hear his impressions and urged Campbell to meet her boss. He was instantly offered a job doing overnight shows at WIVK-FM in 1991.

“I would treat my overnight shows, which started at midnight on Sunday mornings and went to 8 o’clock in the morning, like a morning show,” Campbell said. “I had all of the freedom I wanted, so I started doing this psychedelic, crazy, production-based, overnight radio show, complete with parody calls and celebrity impressions.”

Campbell soon developed a small, cult-like following. On a random Saturday night, a radio program director drove through town and heard the show. The director showed up at the radio station and opened Campbell’s mind to the idea of being a part of his very own morning show. He would soon become the other half of the “Ben and Brian Morning Show” for WWYC in 1994 in Lexington, Kentucky.