John Tesh

John Frank Tesh Jr. (born July 9, 1952) is an American pianist and composer of pop music and a radio host and television presenter. He hosts the Intelligence for Your Life radio show. In addition, since 2014, he has hosted Intelligence for Your Life TV with his wife Connie Sellecca. Tesh has won six Emmys and has four gold albums, two Grammy nominations, and an Associated Press award for investigative journalism. Tesh has sold over eight million records. His live concerts have raised more than $7 million for PBS. He wrote the NBA on NBC basketball theme "Roundball Rock". He has co-hosted the television program Entertainment Tonight. He has previously worked as a sportscaster and host for the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the US Open, the Tour de France, Ironman Triathlon, and as a news anchor and reporter. In 2018, Tesh was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Early life Tesh was born in Garden City, New York, on Long Island, the son of Mildred (Bunny), a nurse, and John Frank Tesh Sr., a textile chemist, both from North Carolina. He graduated from Garden City High School in 1970. Playing piano and trumpet from the age of six, he was named to the New York State Symphonic Orchestra in high school, while also playing the organ in a rock band. Tesh studied communications and music at North Carolina State University. He was also a "walk on" with the varsity lacrosse and soccer teams. While at North Carolina State, studying physics and chemistry, he took a TV and radio course. Tesh worked part-time reading later the news for Rick Dees at WKIX (AM) Raleigh in 1974. His roommate, Bill Leslie, anchor at WRAL-TV, helped him get into the radio and TV field. While in the area, Tesh worked as a news anchor in Raleigh, Orlando, Nashville, then moving to WCBS-TV in New York; this portion of his career spanned 12 years.