Johnjay & Rich’s Quarter-Century Milestone!
• And they said it wouldn’t last longer than… OK, 24 years… but those naysayers have now been definitively proven wrong, as Premiere-syndicated sensations Johnjay & Rich just celebrated their 25th (!) anniversary as a going concern.
Johnjay Van Es and Rich Berra first joined forces around the turn of the 21st century at KRQQ/Tucson — Johnjay had previously done mornings at WKRQ (Q102)/Cincinnati and KKBQ/Houston, while Rich started with Steve & DC in St. Louis, and, while still a teenager, was hired away to produce Dave, Shelly & Chainsaw at KGB/San Diego. In 1998 Rich moved to Dallas to join Kidd Kraddick‘s show, and was later awarded his own solo show over on KEGL (The Eagle). “Johnjay and I met at Morning Show Bootcamp and decided to do a show together,” Rich noted. Johnjay & Rich debuted in Tucson in April 2001.
“It’s wild… it doesn’t feel like 25 years,” Rich tells RAMP. “I remember our first show, break-for-break. It seems like we’d be better at this by now… Thanks to the miracle of modern science, and that Johnjay routinely has his blood removed and replaced (he’s more machine than man) … I feel like we can go another 25 years as partial cyborgs but still somewhat guaranteed human-ish.”
Johnjay remarked, “Twenty five years in, and we’re still having the time of our lives! I’m grateful for every listener, every laugh, and to iHeart and all our incredible affiliates for being part of this ride.”
The guys do share one special person who was there at the beginning, and is there for them again today — Mark Medina, SVP of Programming for iHeartMedia Phoenix, home of the guys’ flagship, KZZP (104.7 Kiss FM). “I was proud to be with them on day one in Tucson (at KRQQ) and I’m honored to be here on Day 9,131 (yes, I did the leap-year math),” said Medina (above, center, with Johnjay and Rich). “I’m incredibly proud, thankful, and excited for Johnjay and Rich and their team. It’s not easy to get up each day, come in perform, entertain, and keep folks’ daily routines on time and full of smiles and joy, but if anyone can do it… so can Johnjay and Rich. Congrats on 25 years, and here’s to another… 3 or 4 more.”
