Rock-star encounters at Q101

GETTING STONED WITH LIZ PHAIR, 1995
For a long time, we had Liz Phair up on Friday nights with [air personalities] Lance and Stoley and myself. [They all] would go up there [in the newsroom] and get stoned. One Monday morning, going back to work, [program director] Bill Gamble walked in with his suit and his briefcase. He walks in to say hello to Lance and Stoley, and I look over on the news computer, and there�s a big joint sitting there. I�m [thinking], Oh, come on, this isn�t good. Bill walked by it; maybe he saw it, maybe he didn�t.�Brooke Hunter

BLOWING OFF GWEN STEFANI, 1996
Gwen Stefani was supposed to call at a certain time, and she never called.� An hour goes by and Gwen Stefani�s manager calls and goes, �Oh, I�m so sorry we�re late, but Gwen was in the hospital.� She was wondering if she could maybe go on now?� It�s like five minutes before we�re going off the air, and I probably did a snotty, stupid thing, but I said, �We�ve moved on, but thanks,� which was so rude, but I mean, they were rude for not calling us. So Gwen Stefani gets up on stage [that night at the Metro] and she�s like, �Hey, Q101, what�s going on? I just wanted to tell you that I was going to be on your morning show this morning, but they wouldn�t put me on the air. I had a little problem, and they told me to forget it. So you know what I�ve got to say to you, Q101 morning show? Fuck. You.��Wendy Snyder, on-air 1996-1998

PISSING OFF GAVIN ROSSDALE, 1997
I remember interviewing Gavin Rossdale, thinking like I was doing the Rolling Stone interview. I�ve got specific quotes from Trent Reznor ripping on Bush and how bad they were, and I asked him to respond to that stuff. I was like, �How do you feel about Trent Reznor saying this?� I think I thought, I�m not letting this guy off of the hook.

He smiled through it and answered the questions. Afterward, he was very angry�our photographer took pictures of me posing with [Rossdale and Bush guitarist Nigel Pulsford], and he�s got this look on this face like, �I hate this, I don�t want to be here, and this person�s an idiot.��Brian the Whipping Boy

FLAKING OUT ON ADAM LEVINE, 2003
Maroon 5 came into the conference room and played acoustic, a couple of songs. This is before anybody knew who they were. I liked the music a lot, and started talking to the band afterward, especially Adam Levine.

Finally, [Levine] said, �Look, we�re not playing anywhere tonight, but I want to see the town a little bit. You wanna get some beers, hang out, and you could show me Chicago?�

So he gave me his cell-phone number. I said, �Yeah, I�ll give you a call later. We�ll party later.� He said, �Cool, looking forward to it, because I don�t know anybody here.�

I did my afternoon show, and went back to my apartment. I just was like, �God, I�m just tired. I�ll just take a nap.� I fell asleep and never called him.

Six months later, I was watching the MTV Movie Awards with some Q101-ers. All of a sudden that �Harder to Breathe� song comes on. I go, �God, this song is awesome, who is this again?� I think it was [air personality] Jim Lynam who said, �Maroon 5. Remember? They came in six months ago, and the singer wanted to be your best friend, and you blew him off? Now he�s the biggest thing ever, and he�s banging Brazilian supermodels and you could have had his leftovers.��Sludge, on-air 1999-2005

GEEKING OUT OVER TRENT REZNOR, 2006
We had [contest] winners watch a [Nine Inch Nails] soundcheck, which turned out to be Trent Reznor performing, and Peter Murphy doing some cover songs. Afterward, everybody got escorted back to this green room, where I was charged with the task of interviewing [Reznor] along with Peter Murphy. I was so nervous about it�. I�m so used to doing those in the comfort and privacy of my studio, but I had an audience. I had to hide all of the nerdgirl, fangirl craziness that was threatening to come out, and focus on not flailing�and on using all of my words correctly.�Electra, on-air 2005-2011

PREDICTING THE FUTURE WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, 2006
We had Stephen Colbert on the premiere day of The Morning Fix. We were trying to simultaneously explain to him and to the audience the crux of the show. I think it seemed strangely conceived in a lot of people�s minds, so we said, �With all due respect, we�re doing a Daily Show kind of radio thing.� He said, �How long is the show?� I said, �We have four hours a day,� and he said, �Oh, you�re so screwed. I only have to do 22 minutes.� Obviously, it proved prophetic.� I knew in my heart of hearts that the show we were trying to do was not going to be the blockbuster they had hoped that it would be.�Alan Cox, on-air 2006-2008

RAISING A GLASS WITH TOM MORELLO, 2007
Tom Morello [of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave] came by the station, promoting Nightwatchman. His record rep told me, �Tom really prefers Jameson.� We drank Jameson off the air when he was done performing. It was amazing to be having a Jameson and Coke with arguably the greatest guitarist of our era.�Alex Quigley, on-air sporadically 2001-2009