Elvis Duran

Elvis Duran

Elvis Duran at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015
Born August 5, 1964
McKinney, Texas, United States
Show Elvis Duran and the Morning Show
Time slot Monday-Friday 6am-10am ET
Country United States United States
Website Official Website

Elvis Duran (born on August 5th, 1964) is the host of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show in New York on Z100 and in syndication on Premiere Radio Networks.[1][2] Duran's show is now heard live in over 80 markets including New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Austin, Cleveland, St. Louis, Fort Myers, Syracuse, Des Moines, Quad Cities, New Haven, and Richmond.

Before his current job at Z100, Duran's previous radio jobs included a stint as an on-air personality at WIOQ in Philadelphia. He served as WIOQ's program director from May 1989[3] until just before he was fired in February 1990.[4][5] In October 1991, Duran became both the program director and morning show host of KBTS (now KGSR) in Austin, Texas.[6]

Prior to working at Z100, Duran also worked evenings at Z-93 with sidekick "Hot Henrietta" in Atlanta, and in Houston. He began his run at Z100 hosting the afternoon slot until April 1996,[7] Tom Poleman, the newly appointed program director, moved Duran to the morning slot, where he has been ever since.

Early Life and Career

His radio career has spanned 30 years and has included both host and program director duties at Philadelphia’s WIOQ and Austin’s KBTS, as well as stints at Z-93 in Atlanta and KRBE Houston.

Elvis Duran and The Morning Show

He began hosting his daily radio show on New York’s Z100 in April 1996. The show expanded to Sussex County NJ in 2004 and Y100/WHYI-FM in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale on May 22, 2006. Since then, the show has enjoyed much success resulting in a national deal in March 2009 with the country’s leading radio syndication company, Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel.[8] In only a year, Elvis Duran and the Morning Show added more than 30 stations including 96.5 KISS FM/WAKS-FM in Cleveland, Q102/WIOQ-FM in Philadelphia and WERZ (107.1 FM) in Portsmouth. The show also airs on XM Satellite Radio, iHeartRadio.com, and the iHeartRadio mobile app. The show replays each day on the Elvis Duran Replay Channel on www.ElvisDuran.com.

Consistently ranking #1 across multiple demographics in nearly 80 markets, EDMS is the most listened to Top 40 morning show in the U.S. Broadcasting live from New York’s Z100, the show consists of pop culture news, celebrity guests, hit songs, and regular features including the gossipy “Entertainment News."

Other Media Ventures

In addition to his successful radio show, Duran launched his own entertainment company in 2007—The Elvis Duran Group (EDG). Owned by Duran and talent agent, David Katz, formerly of Don Buchwald and Associates, the company focuses on creating content for radio, television, broadband, internet, theater, and film. EDG’s first foray into television resulted in a four-episode deal that aired on Spike TV in 2010. The show Phowned, was an iteration of the radio show’s famous Phone Taps segment. The TV show members featured on the show spent an entire summer prank calling friends and family members of listeners. [9]

Today, Duran's career spans across many platforms. Since 2013, he's had his own segment on NBC's Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda called "Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month," where Duran selects a new up and coming artist to spotlight each month. [10] Past artists who have appeared on the segment include Grammy-winning duo A Great Big World, Vance Joy, American Authors, Tori Kelly, Katy Tiz, Labrinth, Zendaya, Cris Cab, Ferras, Bea Miller, and more. Duran is also a regular guest on Jimmy Fallon, The Talk, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood Live, and Extra. For the past two years in a row, Duran co-hosted the Live Grammy Red Carpet Show with Entertainment Tonight on Pop.[11]

On August 5, 2014, Duran turned 50-years-old. To commemorate this huge milestone, all of Duran's celebrity friends sent in surprise video messages to wish him a happy birthday. [12] Celebrities from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Pete Wentz, Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Michael Buble, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Martin, and more contributed to the video.

In December of 2014, ABC's Nightline with Dan Harris went behind the scenes of Elvis Duran and The Morning Show and sat down with Duran to discuss his long career and his "uncensored take on Hollywood." [13] Duran explained his show is a 'safe place for women,' saying, “One of our rules for the show, I guess the filter we try to pass everything through, is it’s a safe place for women to be,” Duran said. “It’s not a show for women, because we’re basically 50/50 men/women in our audience, but it’s a safe place where women win. Women never lose on our show. I think that’s very important. It’s very unusual.”

Awards

The radio industry has honored Duran and EDMS with several awards and nominations such as “Best Morning Show” by New York’s Achievement in Radio Awards, “Personality of the Year” by the Radio Music Awards, “Best Personality” by Radio & Records, “Best Top 40 Disc Jockey” nomination by Billboard Magazine Radio, and “Best Major Market Top 40 Air Personality” by Billboard/Airplay Monitor. The National Association of Broadcasters recently nominated EDMS for the 2012 NAB Marconi Award for Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year. Additionally, Duran is an event chair for the upcoming GLAAD Manhattan Awards where he will also be honored for his contributions to the community.[14] In 2014, Duran was featured on Out's 20th Anniversary Out 100 list as one of the most influential figures in the LGBT community. [15]

Charity

He serves on the board of Rosie’s Theater Kids, an organization that brings enrichment through theater and the arts to underprivileged Manhattan children.[16] With a soft spot for animals, he serves on the board of directors for Rock & Rawhide, a non-profit organization that aims to increase adoptions while also providing a quieter, stress-free life for animals surrendered to shelters.[17] Duran also contributes to the Staten Island Zoo’s[18][19] annual endowment and Robin Hood Foundation,[20] which fights poverty in New York City. Having publicly come out as gay in 2010, Duran is also heavily engaged in philanthropic efforts affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community and works closely with GLAAD and The Trevor Project. [21] Duran is also a big supporter of the Eric Trump Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For the past two years, Elvis Duran and The Morning Show have teamed up with Eric Trump to form the 'Elvis Trumps Cancer' team and raised over $250,000 for the St. Jude 'Give Thanks Walk.' [22] Duran also supports Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, as well as Musicians on Call.

References

  1. ↑ Edel, Raymond A. (1999-07-09). "Co-Host Leaves The Zoo For A Gig In Washington". The Bergen County Record. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  2. ↑ Elvis's business profile at BizShark
  3. ↑ Logan, Joe (1989-05-08). "The Man Behind That Syllabic Sign-Off". The Philadelphia Inquirer. At WIOQ-FM (102.1), program director Mark Driscoll has been upped to operations manager, and jock Elvis Duran has been named program director.
  4. ↑ Logan, Joe (1990-02-12). "A Battle Plan For A War Against Static". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. F10. WIOQ-FM (102.1) afternoon-drive jock Elvis Duran has relinquished his title of program director at the contemporary dance station.
  5. ↑ Logan, Joe (1990-02-19). "Democrats Not Rushing To Get Rizzo Off Air". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Elvis Duran, WIOQ-FM (102.1) jock and former program director, is out, only days after acknowledging that he was looking for work in other cities.
  6. ↑ Herndon, John (1991-10-31). "KNNC-FM targets collegiate crowd; Station debuting today offers alternative rock, acts that appeal to local student crowd". Austin American-Statesman. After the very public firing of morning host Mike Butts and program director Lisa Tonacci last month, B-93 has quietly hired Elvis Duran to fill both positions.
  7. ↑ Hinckley, David (1999-06-28). "Z-100's Come Long Way In Three Years". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  8. ↑ Rachel, Nelson. "Premiere Radio Networks Syndicates Elvis Duran And The Morning Show". Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Huff, Richard. "Spike TV signs on 'Phowned,' televised version of the 'Elvis Duran' morning radio show". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Show, Today. "25-year-old Conrad is Artist of the Month". Today.com. Today Show. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Garvey, Marianne; Niemietz, Brian; Coleman, Oli. "Joanna Krupa pulls off low-cut dress, Elvis Duran opens up about surgery". Daily News. DailyNews.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Page Six Team. "Celebs wish Elvis Duran a happy birthday". Page Six. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  13. ↑ James, Chris; Effron, Lauren. "Elvis Duran, The Man Behind the Voice: Top 40 Radio Host Dishes on Famous Guests Who Have Been Rude, Wonderful". ABC News. ABC Nightline. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Manhattan, GLAAD. "GLAAD Manhattan".
  15. ↑ "Out100: Elvis Duran". Out Magazine. Out.com. Retrieved 3 April 2015. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  16. ↑ "Rosie's Theater Kids". Retrieved 25 July 2012. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  17. ↑ "Rock & Rawhide". Retrieved 25 July 2012. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  18. ↑ Buccellatto, Sarah. "Z100's Elvis Duran to host celebration at the Staten Island Zoo". Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  19. ↑ Zoo, Staten Island. "Staten Island Zoo". Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  20. ↑ Foundation, The Robin Hood. "The Robin Hood Foundation". Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  21. ↑ Nichols, James (2013-08-19). "Elvis Duran, Gay DJ, Talks Coming Out, LGBT Issues And The Future Of Radio". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  22. ↑ Page Six Team. "We hear...". Page Six. Retrieved 17 April 2015.

External links