Classic rock station KQRS is suggesting a format change is set to debut at 6 a.m. Thursday.
“We’re under construction,” reads a yellow and black graphic the station posted on social media. Last week, KQRS took all its DJs off the air and began running promo spots that say “92 KQRS Morning Show” host Steve Gorman will be back. Last month, the station laid off longtime morning co-host Brian Zepp.
Tuesday morning, the station started playing local rock band Soul Asylum’s 1992 hit “Somebody to Shove” on repeat.
A spokesperson for the station’s owner, Atlanta-based Cumulus Media, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
First launched in 1948, the station adopted a classic rock format in the ’70s. By the ’90s, KQRS was the most-listened-to station in the metro, fueled by the popularity of Tom Barnard as the main host of the “Morning Show.” Even Howard Stern, who entered the market in 1997, couldn’t beat Barnard’s ratings and departed after two years.
Those rating had dropped by the end of 2022, when Barnard announced he was leaving the station. The following month, KQRS hired Gorman as his replacement. A Michigan native who grew up in Maryland and Kentucky, Gorman rose to fame as the drummer for the Black Crowes. In 2011, he moved into sports radio. Eight years later, he launched the syndicated “Steve Gorman Rocks!” radio show, which KQRS was running from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. weeknights when they hired him.
“I understand what KQ is and has been,” Gorman told the Pioneer Press at the time. “I’ve been aware of it since the first time I came to Minneapolis on the Black Crowes tour in 1990. I love the city and it’s a great station. I was thrilled to get the call, it’s as close to a no brainer as I’ve ever had. … I have a lot of friends in Minneapolis, and the love people have for the area is something I’ve been hearing about for 30 years.”
On social media, some listeners have theorized that KQRS may shift from ’70s and ’80s mainstream rock to ’90s and beyond alternative rock, pointing to an increase of Green Day and Nirvana songs among warhorses like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
Related Articles
Folk rock trio Mumford and Sons will play St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center in October
Review: Under-the-radar gems from SPCO
Red Bull breaking competition comes to Minneapolis. Here’s what to expect.
The Jonas Brothers to play career-spanning concert at Xcel Energy Center
Concert review: At Target Center, Kid Rock wasn’t nearly as fun as he used to be
Leave a Reply