While stations across the country have responded to the passing of Prince today, the biggest response has been in his hometown of Minneapolis.
Three stations have gone non-stop Prince today: AAA “89.3 The Current” KCMP, Urban AC 89.9 KMOJ, Hubbard Hot AC “KS95” 94.5 KSTP-FM, and Northern Lights Urban “Go 95.3” KZGO. Most of the other stations in the market have paid tribute in some fashion and are sprinkling his songs throughout the day.
From the time TMZ first broke the news of his passing at 11:49am, it took eighteen minutes for the first station to break in with the news and his music. KZGO was first at 12:07 with iHeartMedia Classic Hits “Kool 108” KQOL right behind a minute later. Those stations were followed by 104.1 KZJK at 12:11, 102.9 WMNB at 12:15, 96.3 KTWN at 12:28, 101.3 KDWB at 12:35, KSTP-FM at 12:35, 105.1 WGVX at 12:57, and 97.1 WTCZ at 1:02 according to BDS monitoring of the market.
The Minneapolis market has paid tribute to Prince in multiple ways online. KSTP’s website features a giant banner at the top proclaiming “This Is What It Sounds Like When Doves Cry”. Sports 100.3 KFXN has painted its logo purple and inserted Prince’s logo. KMOJ issued a press release bragging that they were the first station to play his songs on the air. Classic Hip-Hop “105 The Vibe” WGVX host Tony Fly has posted his on-air tribute, and CHR 101.3 KDWB morning host Dave Ryan has been posting videos from the growing gathering at Prince’s Paisley Park home.
