The phrase began on The Howard Stern Show in 1990, when producer Gary Dell'Abate misnamed cartoon character Baba Looey as Baba Booey and the nickname stuck for decades. Stern fans adopted it as a rallying cry, shouting it on live news reports, at sporting events and during televised golf tournaments. That habit turned a radio in-joke into a wider meme shout heard far beyond the show's audience, and short clips of it still circulate on soundboards and social media as a classic prank call sign-off.