R.I.P.: Dusty Street, Pioneering West Coast Rock Personality

Dusty Street (1947-2023)

Veteran rock personality Dusty Street died Saturday. She was 77-years-old according to Steve Hoffman's Music Forums.

Most recently Dusty Street (real name) was one of the first female rock jocks on the west coast working at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco from 1967 through 1978 before heading to Los Angeles where she held court in the evenings from 1979 through 1996 on KROQ.

Earlier this year, she was one of the main contributors to the documentary, “San Francisco Sounds: A Place In Time”. The two-part series focuses on the rise Bay Area artists including The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, CCR, Steve Miller Band, and more. 

Most recently Street shared music with SiriusXM listeners in the Deep Tracks and Classic Vinyl.

On Sunday, October 22, 2023, SiriusXM Classic Vinyl posted a message confirming her death, saying, “We have lost one of our own.

The LA Times reports longtime KLOS DJ Geno Michellini shared a message Saturday on Facebook regarding the pioneering DJ’s death.

“I have been in Eugene the last two days at Dusty Street’s bedside. 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,” Michellini wrote. “She died peacefully, quietly and surrounded by love in a beautifully serene location overlooking the most beautiful lake you could ever want. As befitting the queen that she was.

“Tonight I lost one of the best friends I ever had and the world lost a radio and music legend … 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.”