She started her radio career in 1973, working at
WBCN and
WNTN in
Boston, then moving to
WABX in
Detroit in 1975 then going to KMGC in
Dallas. In 1979, she moved to
Los Angeles, starting at
KKGO-FM and meeting
Harry Shearer before joining KCRW-FM in 1980. There, she started the program
SNAP! (an acronym for
Saturday Night Avant Pop), and later started the program
Breakfast with the Beatles in 1976 at
KMET-FM, simultaneously working at both stations to do both shows. KCRW aired three nights a week with things that were considered the "cutting edge of contemporary pop music." When KMET changed formats in 1987, O’Donoghue took
Breakfast with the Beatles to KNX-FM.
Firings In 1986, she was briefly fired by the bosses at KCRW due in part to her refusal to share her playlists with the music department. On November 2, 1986, KCRW's
Ruth Seymour fired O'Donoghue for not sticking to the music and talking about other things such as the
Nicaraguan Revolution, which led to O'Donoghue's friend and colleague DJ Brent Wilcox resigning on air in protest. She returned on March 2, 1987, and remained with KCRW until 1991, when she left for health reasons.
Death and legacy O'Donoghue died unexpectedly on January 21, 2001, at her home in
Santa Monica, leaving behind an archive of KCRW interviews and performances from the 1980s on her show. Foul play was not suspected by the coroner's office. Many people expressed sadness because of her death, including musicians
Henry Rollins and
Michael Stipe, as well as people like
Tom Schnabel. In 2021, Tricia Halloran and Bob Carlson, both of whom were friends of O'Donoghue, announced a 10-part podcast series called
Bent By Nature that used her unheard tapes, recorded by O'Donoghue herself. == References ==