At 5 a.m. July 1, 1996, Q104.3 officially signed on as New York's Classic Rock.
A quarter-century later, Q104.3 is still thriving in the Big Apple, with many longtime personalities still on its airwaves.
The radio station's 25th birthday celebration kicked off early Thursday with original morning team Donna Donna and Steve Morrison and former program director Bob Buchmann looking back on the station's initial flip to classic rock.
Q104.3's longtime morning show host Radio Hall of Famer Jim Kerr and co-host Shelli Sonstein then led a retrospective through visits from rock royalty Billy Joel, "Little" Steven Van Zant and Rich Robinson, as well as frequent guests like Gilbert Gottfried, Constantine Maroulis, Steve Schirripa and Jill Hennessy. Even New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy sent along a message of congratulations.
Long-serving staff members, Jonathan Clarke, Gerry Martire, Carol Miller, Maria Milito, Ian O'Malley and program director Eric Wellman also turned up to share memories and anecdotes from 25 years of New York's Classic Rock.
But the celebration doesn't end with the Thursday morning show!
In celebration of 25 years rocking New York, Q104.3 will be giving away $25,000 to one lucky listener. To win the contest participants must listen weekdays, starting around 9 a.m. during Q104.3’s Free Music Mornings. When listeners hear the 25th song in the commercial-free set, they must then visit www.q1043.com and share the song's title, and artist played and will automatically qualify to win $25,000.