Rooster

The loud, combative herald who crowed rock and roll into existence.

Alan Freed was the brash, opinionated DJ who declared himself the king of rock and roll, coined the very term, and demanded to be heard above all others — classic rooster energy. He commanded tight communities of fans and fellow believers, fought loudly for Black artists and the new music at a time when that took confrontational nerve, and never shied from controversy. His ego, his need to be first and loudest in the room, and his combative personality even in the face of the payola scandal that destroyed his career all mark him as an archetypal rooster.