A Joint Blog Post with 90s Plus Radio
This one hits hard.
Kiss 95.1 wasn’t just another radio station to me—it was the station of my teenage years and well into adulthood.
My family moved to Charlotte when I was 16. From that point on, Kiss FM became the soundtrack of my life.
If I set my clock radio alarm before school, it was tuned to Kiss FM. When my best friend and I cruised the streets of Charlotte, Kiss FM was always playing. The station introduced me to new artists, counted down the biggest hits, and became part of some of my happiest memories growing up.
But the station meant even more than that.
When I went through an incredibly turbulent period in my early twenties, there wasn’t much in my life that brought me happiness. Every night, though, I knew I could turn on Kiss FM and listen to the nightly countdown show. For a little while, I could forget everything else that was going on. Those songs and that familiar station gave me something to look forward to, and sometimes that was enough to help me get through another day.
That’s why hearing that Kiss 95.1 is leaving the Top 40 format to become yet another K-LOVE station feels like saying goodbye to an old friend.
This isn’t an isolated change. Over the past several years, Educational Media Foundation (EMF), the parent organization of K-LOVE and Air1, has purchased radio stations across the country, converting many of them into K-LOVE or Air1 affiliates. While that strategy has expanded EMF’s national reach, it has also meant the loss of many longtime local stations and heritage formats. For listeners like me who grew up with stations such as Kiss 95.1, every new acquisition feels like another piece of radio history fading away.
The station’s history stretches back more than 60 years. It first signed on in 1962 as WIST-FM, originally airing a beautiful music format before later becoming progressive rock station WRNA. In 1973 it became WROQ, and after several more format and call letter changes—including WZZG, WGKL-FM, WAQQ, and alternative rocker WEDJ “95.1 The Edge”—the station made the move that would define an entire generation of listeners.
On May 31, 1996, the station relaunched as Kiss 95.1, and the following day adopted the WNKS call letters. The very first song played as Kiss 95.1 was “I Go Blind” by Hootie & the Blowfish. Now every time I hear that song I will remember the loss of my favorite Charlotte FM station.
For the next three decades, Kiss 95.1 became one of Charlotte’s signature Top 40 stations, introducing listeners to the biggest artists of the late ’90s, 2000s, and beyond while featuring popular personalities and memorable morning shows.
Now, after decades as one of the Carolinas’ best-known Top 40 stations, Kiss 95.1 is giving way to K-LOVE as Educational Media Foundation expands its network. For many listeners, it’s simply another format flip. For me, it’s the end of a station that was woven into some of the most important moments of my life.
Moments like this remind me why I created 90s Plus Radio.
We’re independent. We don’t answer to a giant corporation or investment group. We don’t let algorithms or consultants decide what you hear. Every song is hand-selected by people who genuinely love the music and the memories it brings.
Radio will continue to evolve, but our mission won’t. We’ll keep celebrating the music of the ’90s and preserving the kind of personal connection that made stations like Kiss 95.1 so special.
90s Plus Radio — Where Nostalgia Meets Now.