Dallas bids farewell to DJ Michael Cantu, aka ‘Hollywood Hernandez’

By Lori Lee
NDG Contributing Writer

Fans and friends of Dallas DJ Michael Cantu, otherwise known as Hollywood Hernandez, are mourning the loss of a loved one and local talent.

Cantu spent most of his life as a DJ. He started his radio career while still in high school, playing top 40s for an AM radio station in his hometown of Beaumont. His career took off in 1976 while studying communications at Lamar University, and he has been a positive voice on the airwaves ever since.

Being a DJ came naturally to him. He was always around music. He and his sister had grown up listening to Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash and Fats Domino records with their family, occasionally sneaking a listen to his big brother’s Beatles albums when he wasn’t around.
Later, he’d be influenced by the folksy, R&B sounds of the Doobie Brothers and technically skilled Chicago. These groups would influence the broad mix of urban contemporary, rhythm and blues, and soul artists he became known for playing.

It was in 1981 that he moved to Dallas, accepting a job doing overnights at KKDA-FM (K104) under the stage name, Cantu Hernandez. And though he worked as a morning show host and program director for Shreveport’s KISS 92 a brief time in the late 80s, he spent most of the decade in Dallas, working as DJ for K104 almost 11 years.

Over time, Cantu moved into the midday slot, while doing pinch-hit duties for “The Fly Jock” Tom Joyner. Paired with the likes of Barry White, Vanessa Williams, and Steve Harvey, and repeatedly traveling to Hollywood to do celeb interviews, he picked up the nickname “Hollywood” and became known as “Hollywood Hernandez.”

During his time with K104, the station rose to #1 in Dallas/Fort Worth ratings and was named Billboard Magazine Urban Station of the Year. He loved the variety of working in radio, where no two days were alike, one day opening for a concert, the next, marshaling a parade. He appreciated the arts, and he participated, reviewing movies, helping people start their careers, and helping to promote a number of groups to gold and platinum.
Recruited to national radio in 1992, Hollywood moved to ABC’s The Touch, a 24-hour adult urban format. He would spend 23 years there as an air personality and program director and later acquire an international audience on the Disney Radio network.

What was he like as a person? Without missing a beat, his sister said “[h]e was the kind of guy who lit up a room . . . He was a jokester. He was fun.” He was also a “give you the shirt off his back kind of guy,” who no matter how sick, would always be out caring for the homeless. “We grew up poor, and I think that’s why.”

At home, he’s known as “Big Poppi.” He loved to cook for his two adult daughters and two grandchildren, and he’s shared countless weekends with his family at Crystal Beach on the Texas coast. He was rooted in family and had a close relationship with his father, who lived with him in his later years.

Michael Cantu, “Hollywood” Hernandez, died on January 27, 2022, after a long battle with Cancer. The night prior to his passing, the group Yarbrough and Peoples honored him with a private concert. He was surrounded by family when he died.

“My friend made me a better person and so many others,” his friend Gregory adds. “He believed in being positive and supportive of everyone’s endeavors. He touched so many people with his incredible heart. His presence and mark that he left on all of us will never be forgotten.”

In lieu of flowers, Cantu asks for donations for Where are You? Outreach, a group he supported.The organization provides resources to the homeless and supports those who feel abandoned. (Wherareyououtreach.org.)