After graduating, Howard landed a job as a disc jockey for WRNW in Westchester County, New York. His first morning show job came in 1978, with WCCC-AM/FM in Hartford, Connecticut. That same year, Howard married Alison Berns, his college sweetheart. After a few more radio stints in Michigan and Washington, DC; Howard eventually made his way to New York in 1982, where he worked at NBC's flagship AM radio station, WNBC-AM. Another NBC employee, David Letterman, took a liking to Howard’s shtick and invited him on his show. Howard’s first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in 1984 proved to be his first big media break, exposing him to a national audience.

Since the 1980s, Howard has hosted the national radio show, The Howard Stern Show. He is best known for his controversial, irreverent commentary on socially taboo topics; as well as sketches, song parodies, games, and celebrity interviews. He is also infamous for catching celebrity guests off-guard with personal, embarrassing questions – a technique that has contributed to his reputation as a "shock jock." In keeping with his tendencies to say and do the unthinkable, in September of 2001, when New York City was under terrorist attack, Howard continued his live broadcast even while other radio announcers fled the city.

Howard has become one of the highest-paid – and most fined – radio personalities in the history of radio broadcasting. In 1994, he signed a five year, $500 million deal with the satellite radio service Sirius, which has freed his show from FCC content restrictions since the deal went into effect in 2006. Previously, The Howard Stern Show had been syndicated on AM/FM radio across the U.S.

In 1993, Howard penned his first autobiographical book, Private Parts, which was also made into a film in 1997. The movie won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award in 1998, and was nominated for a Razzie Award, as well as a Golden Satellite Award.

In 1996, Howard wrote Miss America – another collection of memoirs which satirizes mostly his own staff as well as various celebrities he has met during his career in radio. One notable encounter that Howard chronicles in Miss America is a meeting that allegedly took place between himself and Michael Jackson. In a bid to increase Michael Jackson’s popularity, The King of Pop’s management urges Howard to encourage his listeners to "take to the streets" in support of him. Although Howard declined, his self-proclaimed title as "The King of all Media" was satirically inspired by Michael Jackson’s also reportedly self-proclaimed title, "The King of Pop."

Since divorcing his wife in 1999, Howard has been romantically linked to Angie Everhart, Robin Givens, and Carmen Electra. He is currently enagaged to model Beth Ostrosky, who frequently appears in FHM magazine.

In 2006, Howard was included in Time magazine's "Time 100: The People who shape our world." That same year, he also made the top ten in Forbes magazine's annual Celebrity 100 list of the world’s most influential celebrities.

Let us know of updates to the Howard Stern biography at editor@yuddy.com