Aaron Brown, legendary news anchor for CNN, ABC, dies at 76

Aaron Brown, a storied news anchor for both CNN and ABC, has died, the networks report.

Brown died Sunday at 76, per a statement from his family provided to CNN Tuesday. No cause of death was identified.

His passing marks the loss of an elder statesman of the broadcast business, a steady-voiced news-teller whose reporting spanned global conflict, domestic terror and celebrity trials.

Brown served as the inaugural host for ABC's "World News Now," sitting behind the anchor desk for many years before network-hopping to CNN to steer "NewsNight." His reporting caught the national spotlight in 2001 when, after the Twin Towers had been attacked, he climbed up to the roof of CNN's Manhattan office and broadcast live for 17 hours.

Processing the tragedy in real time, Brown told audiences: "This has all the appearances of an extraordinarily well-coordinated and devastating terrorist attack."

He later won an Edward R. Murrow Award for his 9/11 reporting, which marked his first day on air for the network.

Kicking off his journalism career on the West Coast, Brown worked at Seattle's local CBS and NBC stations for a decade, before moving to New York to round out his network quadfecta.

He stepped back from the anchor desk officially in 2007, leaving CNN to teach at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism where he served as an instructor until 2014.

"He had a biting sense of humor, and in the days before people spoke of a work-life balance, Aaron knew its value. Anchoring a program at 10 p.m. can be brutal, but Aaron was able to make time for what was important to him outside the studio, whether it be his wife and daughter or a round of golf," CNN producer Jon Auerbach, who worked with Brown, told the outlet.