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Elwood Edwards, who recorded the celebrated “you’ve got mail” operation implicit 30 years agone for then-unknown institution America Online for lone $200, has died. He was 74.
By Bentley Maddox Nov 07, 2024 11:09 PMTags
In Memoriam: Fallen Stars of 2024
America has said goodbye to 1 of its astir memorable voices.
Elwood Edwards, who recorded the celebrated “you’ve got mail” notification for AOL has died aft a agelong illness, according to NBC affiliate WKYC, wherever helium worked arsenic a “jack-of-all-trades” until his status successful 2014. He was 74.
“Every clip idiosyncratic would travel to sojourn astatine WKYC, he’d present himself and they’d admit him,” Frank Macek, elder broadcast manager astatine WKYC, told CNN. “There was specified an relation betwixt his dependable and AOL for specified a agelong play of clip that helium became an instant personage arsenic a result.”
So, however did Edwards primitively onshore the gig? He has his woman to convey for seizing an opportunity.
“It each started erstwhile my woman Karen, who worked for Quantum Computer Services, overheard [CEO] Steve Case talking astir adding a dependable to the then-upcoming AOL bundle successful 1989,” Edwards said successful a 2012 video shared to AOL’s YouTube channel. “So, she volunteered my dependable and, connected a cassette platform successful my surviving room, I recorded the phrases that you’ve travel to know.”
In summation to the email notification, helium recorded the phrases, “welcome,” “files done” and “goodbye” and was fixed a one-time outgo of $200. Though helium erstwhile told CNBC that helium had a “good narration with AOL,” helium besides clarified that helium has ne'er received immoderate residual payments.
AOL / YouTube
In the 35 years since signaling the instantly-recognizable phrases, Edwards has been amazed by the popularity of his freelance gig, which adjacent led to a 2015 quality connected The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I had nary thought it would go what it did—I don’t deliberation anybody did,” Edwards said successful a 2019 interrogation connected the Silent Giants with Corey Cambridge podcast. “Suddenly, AOL took off… I retrieve lasting successful enactment astatine CompUSA and seeing [stacks of AOL CDs] and thinking, ‘My dependable is connected each 1 of those, and cipher has a clue.’”
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