Biography
Erik Zachary was born on September 11th, 1991 to Virginia and Richard Zachary. Raised in Bartlett, IL (a western suburb of Chicago), Erik grew up learning the ins and outs of his Parents' mobile DJ company which naturally lead to him being in the spotlight at a very young age. By 7, he had already begun a child modeling and acting career and was quickly becoming acclimated to talking into a microphone. At 15, his resume of numerous local theatre productions and print ads was elevated when he was cast as a performing understudy in Steppenwolf's adaptation of 'Dandelion Wine' by Ray Bradberry. Although he continued to participate in acting throughout high school, Erik quickly realized his favorite part about being on stage was engaging with the crowd and performers alike. During his sophomore year, he was asked to MC his High School's talent show and it was this moment that he shifted his primary focus to hosting, both on stage and on-air.
When Erik was 16 years old, he launched his own internet radio station (from his parent's basement) and invited friends and neighborhood bands on as guests, even going so far as to receive sponsorship from local businesses. After graduating from Bartlett High School in 2010, he furthered his education at Columbia College Chicago where he studied Television and Radio Broadcasting from which he graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree.
While completing his degree, Erik became a part of the ClearChannel (now iHeartMedia) owned, Kiss FM Chicago (WKSC-FM). Beginning as an intern, he was first hired as a Promotions/Programming Assistant and then quickly named an On-Air personality, two weeks prior to his 21st birthday. When iHeartMedia brought a country station to Chicago in 2015, Erik was offered the opportunity to become the full-time night host on Big 95.5 (WEBG-FM). This promotion caused his radio career to explode and he took opportunities to voicetrack shows for WBWL-FM in Boston and KBEB-FM in Sacramento among others. In late 2016, after nearly two years of successful ratings, he returned to his roots as the full-time evening host for Chicago's 103.5 Kiss FM. Today, in addition to his number 1 rated night show in Chicago, Erik can be heard every weekend on the world famous Z100 in New York City.
Aside from growing his radio career, Erik used his early twenties as a time to begin producing and releasing video content on YouTube. Through a series of Interviews, Vlogs, and skits, his channel quickly garnered more than 10,000 subscribers and 5 Million views.
At 21, Erik was cast as a VJ for Akoo where he hosted weekly entertainment news clips, syndicated nationally throughout Malls, Dormitories and digitally via the Akoo closed-circuit network. Although the Akoo corporation ended up claiming bankruptcy, this quick stint served as Erik's first professional on-camera hosting appearance and proved crucial to his television career.
In 2017, the success of his YouTube channel and national radio shows led to his discovery by Viacom who relocated him to New York City to serve as a host on MTV's Summer in the City and the official revival of TRL. Today, he continues to host and voice a variety of shows for the MTV and Viacom Digital Studio network, including TRL, The VMAs Red Carpet LIVE, SXSW, VidCon, How Far is Tattoo Far, The Sneak Peak Show, and more.
Erik's continuously growing list of celebrity interviews includes Tyra Banks, Chelsea Handler, Kevin Hart, Ludacris, Selena Gomez, Ryan Seacrest, Keith Urban, Demi Lovato, Chance The Rapper, Shawn Mendes, Robert Downey Jr, Fall Out Boy, One Direction, Luke Bryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, and many more.
