KROQ streams alternative rock live from Los Angeles, the station widely credited with breaking punk, new wave, and grunge for American radio audiences decades before those genres went mainstream. You can stream it live and free right now on Radio Shuffle, wherever you are in the world.
A Church-Owned Station That Went Broke Once Already
KROQ's frequency started life as KPPC-FM, launched on April 23, 1962, and owned outright by the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, according to Wikipedia's history of the station. The church sold it in 1967 to Crosby-Avery Broadcasting, which brought in Tom and Raechel Donahue to run a freeform progressive rock format that gave underground and punk musicians real airtime years before most stations would touch them. The station took the call sign KROQ-FM in 1973 and hired Shadoe Stevens to build a high-energy rock format, but poor financial management buried the station in seven million dollars of debt, and it went dark after just a year on air.
Rodney Bingenheimer and the Rebirth of Alternative Radio
The FCC ordered KROQ back on the air in late 1975, and this time it stuck. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer used his show to introduce Los Angeles audiences to emerging punk and new wave acts, helping turn KROQ into the voice of an alternative culture that had almost nowhere else to go on commercial radio. By 1980 the station had fully committed to modern rock, mixing punk bands like the Ramones and the Clash with new wave pioneers including U2, Talking Heads, and Devo, a combination that was still genuinely risky programming for the era.
From New Wave to Grunge, One Format Shift Ahead
KROQ kept landing early on genres before they broke wide. Infinity Broadcasting bought the station for 45 million dollars in 1986, and through the late 1980s and 1990s KROQ introduced Los Angeles to grunge, alternative metal, and pop-punk through bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Green Day, cementing its reputation as a station that consistently found the next big sound before its competitors did.
Kevin & Bean, Loveline, and Two Festivals Still Running
The station's on-air personalities built genuine cult followings, particularly the Kevin & Bean morning show and Loveline, the call-in advice program originally hosted by Jim Trenton and Dr. Drew Pinsky. KROQ also built two festivals that have outlasted plenty of trends themselves, Almost Acoustic Christmas, running since 1989, and Weenie Roast, running since 1993, both still associated with the station's brand today.
A Recent Course Correction
KROQ drifted toward alternative pop programming under brand manager Mike Kaplan starting in 2020, a shift that longtime listeners pushed back against as ratings slipped. Kevin Weatherly returned as senior vice president in 2022 and steered the station back toward heritage rock and 1990s and 2000s material, and by 2025, with Kevin Ryder back hosting afternoons, KROQ was posting its highest ratings in 15 years.
Tune In
From a bankrupt church-owned frequency to the station that handed America punk, new wave, and grunge years ahead of schedule, KROQ has spent five decades finding the next sound first. Stream it free on Radio Shuffle to hear it live.