Dusty Street, who broke ground as a woman DJ in rock and roll radio and helped shape the sound of KROQ-FM/106.7 in the ’80s, died Sunday, Oct. 22 at her home in Eugene, Oregon. She was 77.
Her death was first reported by longtime friend and KLOS-FM/95.5 colleague Geno Michellini on Facebook on Sunday.
“I have been in Eugene the last two days at Dusty Street’s bedside,” he wrote. “The numerous afflictions that she has been so indomitably fighting these last years finally caught up to her. I am writing with a broken heart to say that Dusty left us tonight.
“Tonight I lost one of the best friends I ever had and the world lost a radio and music legend as befitting her starring role in the ‘San Francisco Sounds’ documentary movie that just came out recently,” he continued. “She was all that and so much more.
“There will never be another Dusty Street. The queen is gone, but she’ll never be forgotten.”
Street got her start in San Francisco radio in 1967, working briefly at KMPX-FM before jumping to KSAN-FM, both of them underground free-form stations, where she stayed most of the ’70s. At the time, she was one of the first women rock DJs on the West Coast.
In 1979, Street headed south to KROQ where she stayed most of the next decade.
“Time is a cruel mistress,” longtime KROQ DJ Richard Blade wrote on his Facebook page. “We all lost a dear friend today. It was Dusty who trained me to run the board at KROQ, and trying to emulate her expertise was a tough job. She brought so much of her love of music – particularly Dark Wave like Siouxsie, Bauhaus, and many others, to the airwaves.
“In today’s barren terrestrial radio market, there is no one like her,” he continued. “I’ll so miss her voice, her laugh, her caring for animals, our trips to Hawaii together, and our visits when I’d do a gig in Cleveland, where she did her show on SiriusXM and made her home for the past decade. Your talents will not be forgotten. Fly low and avoid the radar, Dusty.”
Street eventually left Los Angeles, working in Las Vegas and then Cleveland. For the past 20 years she hosted the Deep Tracks and Classic Vinyl shows on SiriusXM.
“We have lost one of our own,” the SiriusXM Facebook page posted. “Dusty Street has passed away after 77 joyous trips around the sun. And yes, Dusty Street was her real name. We are heartbroken.”