Remembering Blakeley Tuggle

• Blakeley Davell Tuggle, best known for his lengthy and influential tenure at the late, great WHYT/Detroit, died in Detroit after a long illness. It is believed he was 47.

RAMP reached out to a couple of guys who worked with Blakeley at WHYT and knew him well — former longtime WHYT PD Rick Gillette and consultant/owner Dom Theodore. Gillette told RAMP, “Blakeley was working at ‘HYT before I got there — as an intern on the Electrifying Mojo show. Through my tenure there, more than nine years, Blakeley became the Asst. MD, Mix Show Coordinator and co-host of Lisa Lisa‘s Friday Night House Party. He also would help book guests for that show. We would let young hip-hop stars come up and freestyle… guys like Kid Rock and Eminem…

Gillette added, “Blakeley was brilliant and funny, honest and kind and so special. Heads of labels would call him (he was then 20 years old) instead of Mark Jackson or me, because Blakeley was so plugged into the music scene in Detroit. He was an integral part of the legend of WHYT.”

Theodore concurs with Gillette’s sentiments, saying, “Blakeley was actively involved in the music department at WHYT from the late ’80s until the mid-’90s under Gillette and Mark Jackson. He used to field many of the music calls and was widely known by the record community at that time. His true passion was music. He had great ears and understood the unique dynamics of Detroit really well. Those years at WHYT were a very special time for all of us who came up there, and Blakeley was a big part of it.”

In the vintage 1992 photo on the left, Blakeley (center) is bookended between Gillette and Promotions Asst. Monica Kazyaka Johnson at Drex‘s end-of-summer bash. On the right is a more recent photo of Blakeley from Facebook.

There is also a Facebook thread that is connecting many of Blakeley’s friends and former colleagues.