Kay Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. He was the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Howell Kyser, and a cousin of Vermont C. Royster. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, his campus popularity and enthusiasm as a cheerleader caused him to be invited to join a commercial band being formed by other students. Although he started clarinet lessons, he was better as an entertaining announcer for the band than as a musician. He adopted the initial of his middle name as part of his stage name, for its alliterative effect.