“America’s oldest teenager” has left us:

Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with “American Bandstand,” and whose trademark “Rockin’ Eve” became a fixture of New Year’s celebrations, died today at the age of 82.

Clark’s agent Paul Shefrin said in statement that the veteran host died this morning following a “massive heart attack.”

We’ve written about Dick Clark a bunch of times, going all the way back to BR #2. The guy played a larger part in the ushering in of the Rock and Roll era than most people imagine. From USA Today, this morning: