Classic rock station KQRS-FM goes ‘under construction’ without DJs ahead of relaunch

To paraphrase one of KQRS-FM’s favorite bands to spin, listeners of the Twin Cities’ mainstay classic rock radio station are waiting to meet the new bosses. How different will they be from the old bosses, though?

The once-dominant FM radio station (92.5 FM) took all its DJs off the air Tuesday and put up “Under Construction” signs on its social media pages, all teasing to an April 3 relaunch — and possibly an all-out rebranding.

For now, the station is promising the return of its new morning show host, Steve Gorman, the former Black Crowes drummer who replaced longtime ratings kingpin Tom Barnard in 2023. Gorman’s sidekick Ryder Rox (aka Ryder Bue) is also due back.

No other on-air personalities are being guaranteed, though, and no hint has been offered by the station’s corporate owner Cumulus Media of what changes might be made to the station’s format.

Earlier this month, Cumulus laid off one longtime KQRS on-air host, Brian Zepp, as well as another personality from sister station 93X (93.7 FM), Andrew Wappel.

After dominating in ratings for decades, KQ’s had already begun to slip before Barnard left the station in 2022. The station spent much of 2024 around the low end of the top 10 among Twin Cities FM outlets.

“Come back Thursday, April 3rd at 6am to hear what we’ve been cooking up here at Minnesota’s 92 KQRS!” reads one of the “Under Construction” posts.

In one of several recorded on-air promotions touting the makeover, an announcer says, “Pardon our dust, but build a new KQ we must.”

So what exactly might the new KQ be?

Sports talk radio is one theory being thrown around by radio insiders, since Gorman got his start as a radio professional talking sports in Nashville. However, competing with the iHeartMedia-run ratings leader KFAN (100.3 FM) in that format would be very tough.

Other insiders are pointing to an “alternative” rock station akin to Minnesota Public Radio’s trendy music outlet the Current, which would also fit in Gorman’s wheelhouse. KQ listeners have noticed a slight shift on the station in recent years to more ‘90s-era bands such as Nirvana, Green Day, Beastie Boys and even Minneapolis’ own ne’er-do-wells the Replacements — all of whom were played on air Tuesday night between the station’s older standbys such as Foreigner, Bon Jovi, ZZ Top, Pink Floyd and the Who.

One more unlikely but not entirely dismissible theory floating around: Given the KQ relaunch’s timing right around April Fools’ Day, this also could be some kind of ruse. Surely, though, the station’s advertisers wouldn’t want to get fooled again if that were the case.