Biography
Brian
McFayden is MTV's newest addition to the award-winning MTV News department.
McFayden currently anchors daily news segments (you know, "every ten to the
hour") and news segments on TRL. Brian has also interviewed various
musicians for MTV including Snoop Dogg, Fred Durst, Jennifer Lopez and 'NSYNC
McFayden was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. As a little ankle-biter, he
religiously listened to local sportscasters Kent Pevelka and Gary Saddlemeyer on
KFAB-Radio as they called the plays for his favorite football team the
Nebraska Cornhuskers. (GO BIG RED!) Every Saturday afternoon, McFayden sat in
his bedroom tuned in and mimicked everything the duo said on air, beginning a
fascination with and dream to have a career in radio broadcasting. After
graduating from Ralston High School in Omaha, McFayden enrolled in the intensive
nine month broadcasting program at Brown Institute in Minneapolis, MN where he
studied communications. While in school, McFayden interned at KEGE Radio (93.7
The Edge) where he met radio personality Cane, who became the young man's
mentor. Upon graduating from Brown Institute, McFayden returned to Nebraska in
1994 and began studying at the University of Nebraska and interning at KEZO
Radio (Z-92). At KEZO, McFayden was a lowly grunt-boy who grew restless for an
on air opportunity so in 1996 he took the $700 he had saved waiting tables at a
Outback Steakhouse, rented a U-Haul and headed back to Minneapolis. Once he
arrived in Minneapolis, McFayden sent out tapes to all of the radio stations in
the area and after a few weeks, his old friend Cane called and invited him to be
his on-air sidekick at KEGE Radio. The two began hosting the "Cane
Show." As "Altar Boy," McFayden served as the stereotypical
sidekick and punching bag for Cane. McFayden had adopted this strange nickname
one night at a bar when he confessed to some friends that he had always wanted
to be an altar boy because the boys who held this position got all of the girls.
What began as an inside joke among the guys soon grew into a permanent on-air
nickname. The "Cane" show was doing incredibly well in Minneapolis and
McFayden's dreams had been fulfilled. He was completely content when out of the
blue, Cane received a call from the top-rated K-ROCK station in New York City to
come to the Big Apple. Cane invited McFayden to come with him and the men headed
to New York in April 1997 and began broadcasting the "Cane Show"
between 6 and 10pm daily on K-ROCK Radio. In December of 1998, MTV heard about a
young radio hot shot who went by the name "Altar Boy" and the channel
approached McFayden to audition for several pilots that were in development.
Ecstatic about the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of three of his idols
- Kurt Loder, Chris Connelly and John Norris - McFayden jumped at the
opportunity. McFayden joined the channel in November 1999 and the young man has
been honing his skills and preparing for his own show since then. McFayden
enjoys listening to rock and hip hop music. In his spare time, he works out,
plays foosball with friends, rollerblades, plays video games until the wee hours
of the morning, and searches for sports memorabilia to add to his substantial
collection. McFayden's mom and sister Joanie still live in Omaha. McFayden says
he misses his momıs homestyle cooking particularly her meatloaf, beef and
noodle, green bean casserole, beef stew and mashed potatoes...oh yeah and his
grandmother's pistachio cake. Credit: mtv.com
and artistdirect.com