Chaz Saunders, arguably the most beautiful voice – and personality – in radio, was fired this morning from Majic 104.9. FM (Clear Channel).
Saunders worked the 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. shift and was most known for her segments Back in the Day Buffet and Chaz’s Top Ten at 10 – where she counted down artists’ top five records.
Saunders, who had been at the station for 20 years, is one of several personalities who have been let go recently, with management citing budget cuts.
The beloved Saunders amassed several die-hard fans, and wanted to say goodbye to them, but wasn’t allowed to, according to a reliable source.
“She’s such a good person that if they had told her she was fired and let her go on the air, she wouldn’t have done anything crazy – she was just loyal to her fans,” the source said.
“I feel like I’m going to cry,” said a fan, Charmane Brown.
Another fan, Cherise Cohee, said, “Not Chaz – that’s going to be a problem.
“I love hearing her – she gets me though my day.”
A colleague at the station, said, “It’s a sad, dark day and marks the end of an era in radio.”
More cuts expected, according to the source.
“I would be surprised if Tony (Scott) or Daryl (Eason) make it to January,” the source said.
According to the source, Clear Channel had been in talks with singer Keith Sweat about his syndicated radio show, which would replace Eason’s Quiet Storm.
The source also said Scott’s contract hasn’t been renewed as of yet.
The radio conglomerate shocked the St. Louis radio community when managers fired Lee Clear, a top black exec, last year.
Clear now owns a radio station in Chattanooga, TN.
The source said though the cuts may be budgetary, the company is racist because urban radio and blacks are getting the brunt of it.
“That’s why we need our own radio station,” Cohee said. “We have too much power and education not to have a plan B.”
“May the doors of Heaven open and pour an abundance of blessings upon you,” Saunders said in her angelic voice at the end of every show.
Now fans are praying for her.