My 25th Anniversary at WRIF – People We’ve Lost – Meltdown
With the passing of Eddie Van Halen last, it got me to thinking about some of the people we’ve lost since I arrived at RIFF 25 years ago.
Over the last 5-7 years of his life I became friends with the late, Vinnie Paul. More like hockey buds. He would text me about hockey throughout the year. The last time I texted him was right after the Vegas Golden Knights lost in the Stanley Cup finals. He was devastated and texted me for over an hour. He was a solid guy.
Of course, recently we lost two rock giants that I had the pleasure of meeting. Chester bennington and Chris Cornell. I can recall the very first time I played Soundgarden on the radio some 30 years ago. To know I watched their final show is pretty heavy. Chester’s death was very brutal. I had met him several times and each time he was always laughing and in a great mood. Every time!
The world of wrestling has seen its share of losses over the past quarter century. One that was very hard was the death of Chris Benoit. He came through the station about a month before he took his own life after taking the lives of his family. My friend, Rhino, had giving me a poster of him and Chris from some sort of German promotion. Rhino singed it for me, then Chris did as well. I recall he was beyond personable and very accommodating. We took pictures and the whole thing. He signed my poster and personalized to me. When I found out what he did, I took it off my wall and threw it out. I couldn’t have that in my house. Heartbreaking.
I also did an event with the late Curt Henniga and Miss Elizabeth. I interviewed the “Macho Man” Randy Savage as he came by the station to plug his album. I can’t remember anything about that, but he was pretty cool.
Here’s the late “Mean” Gene Okerlund and China, who was a lot of fun.
There’s been several more throughout the years. Lots of good people who have all left their mark on me. I promise, the upcoming posts will be more uplifting!
The late Shawn Burr and “Tiny” Tim….
-Meltdown-