Arsenio Hall

Arsenio Hall broke the color barrier in late night television, becoming the first Black host of a syndicated talk show and creating a cultural phenomenon with his fist-pumping audience chant. His platform gave hip-hop acts like Public Enemy and N.W.A. national airtime two years before any network competitor dared to book them. Hall's 1992 interview with Bill Clinton, where Clinton played saxophone, reached 10 million viewers and remains the most-watched late night interview of the 1990s.