The voice behind AOL’s iconic “You’ve got mail!” announcement, Elwood Edwards, has died at 74 after battling a long illness. The news was reported by WKYC, a local Ohio station where Edwards worked for many years.
If you were around in the mid-90s, you might recall opening your email inbox to hear Edwards’ cheerful “You’ve got mail!” greeting without realizing it was voiced by a real person. In 1989, Edwards recorded the famous phrase, along with “Welcome,” “Files done,” and “Goodbye” on a cassette tape for just $200.
During a 2016 interview, Edwards recalled how his wife volunteered him for the job after overhearing that the company she worked for, Quantum Computer Services (which later became AOL), was looking to add a real voice to its software. Edwards said, “I’d been an announcer throughout my entire broadcasting career, and she volunteered me.”
He scribbled the simple phrases on a piece of paper, quickly recorded them, and the rest is history. He recalled, “It started off as a test just to see if it would catch on, and lo and behold, in the mid-90s, it had really caught on.”
At one point, Edwards said his voice was heard more than 35 million times a day. His newfound success even led him to lend his voice to an episode of The Simpsons.
Today, Edwards’ iconic “You’ve got mail!” greeting can still be heard when new messages arrive—if you enable it in your settings—allowing his voice to live on in the digital world.
Elwood Edwards, the voice behind AOL’s iconic “You’ve got mail” announcement, has died at 74, but he still lives on in the digital world.
Source: Elwood Edwards, Voice of AOL’s ‘You’ve Got Mail!’ Alert, Dies at 74
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