R.I.P. to one of the ‘top players’ at WQMG/WEAL radio:AC Stone movin’ on

There is so much transition going on with the local radio these days, with Jack Murphy gone and ‘Python’ Wilson Thomas’ son-in-law Jared Pike ready to take his place and Brad and Britt, set to hit the road and leave the Triad and lay down stakes in Charlotte and then Bill Flynn, who turned it all in now two years ago….AC Stone was really getting it on and getting it done at 97.1 WQMG and at 1510AM WEAL…He was getting it done ‘big time’ by doing the morning show on WEAL 1510 and then turning right around and doing the afternoon show on 97.1…He was here for a while doing the 97.1 gig and then flipped it around and left town and worked the Charlotte market for a few years doing gospel down there…Then within the past year or so, he returned to the Triad, to replace Buster Brown in the afternoons at WQMG and he took over for Joseph Level, when he left WEAL…Busy man, getting it on, Mr. AC Stone….In between all of that he was on the AM in the big radio days down in Durham, N.C. and he was a very successful record rep for Atlantic Records…If you’ve listened to radio at all in the Triad, you knew the name AC Stone….

Here is the word on his passing from this past weekend, due to cancer, from the WQMG 97.1 home page……www.wqmg.com:

On Saturday morning, we received the very sad news that AC Stone had passed away. We couldn’t really believe what we were hearing. Although he’d been sick for a few weeks, it just didn’t seem possible.

You may not know this, but AC had a long and varied career in both radio and in the music business. He worked as an on-air personality in Durham, back in the days when AM radio ruled. Later, he became a “record rep” for Atlantic Records.

As we all know, AC came back to radio after a time and those of us in this building were among the fortunate to work with him. He served as Program Director of WQMG, overseeing our station’s rise to the very top of the ratings. Later, he moved to Charlotte as Operations Manager for a group of broadcasting stations there. He and our Program Director, Shilynne Cole, kept in close contact. Eventually, AC felt the time was right to rejoin his radio family here in the Triad. We were all very glad to be able to welcome him back among us as the popular afternoon personality on 97.1 ‘QMG.

Through this time, AC has also served as morning host and music programmer for our sister station, Big WEAL Gospel. That part of his work meant a lot to him. He didn’t push it in anyone’s face, but AC’s religious convictions were a very important element and strong guiding force in his life. He came from a family of preachers and regularly sought opportunities to present his testimony, always doing so in the most appropriate, even unobtrusive ways.

CLICK HERE to read all/read more on AC Stone, from the WQMG site….