Steele was born Ceil Loman on January 26, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York. Years later, the same magazine established a new award in her honor, The Alison Steele Award for Lifetime Achievement. Steele was honored with the Billboard award for FM Personality of the Year (1976), and she was the first woman to receive it.

She returned to WNEW in 1982 for another three years, and then joined New York's WXRK in 1989 for another six. Steele also worked in television for many years in a variety of roles including performer, writer, and producer. Her original Nightbird show ran from 1968 to 1979. Her show featured progressive rock and artists associated with the counterculture of the time, combined with listeners' calls and Steele's own unique brand of mellow DJ patter, peppered with poetry and mysticism. She amassed a large and loyal following on her night shifts on WNEW-FM in New York City during the late 1960s and 1970s. Alison Steele (born Ceil Loman Janu– September 27, 1995) was an American radio personality who was also known by her air name, The Nightbird.

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