Cathy Hughes Sets the Record Straight: This is the "Real" Real Story of The Original Quiet Storm on 96.3 WHUR

We thought we knew the true story of the most celebrated and duplicated radio show in the history radio. Every city where there is a Black radio station, has a segment of their evening programming dedicated to love songs and ballads be it at 7pm, 8pm, 10pm, or midnight. Most of them are called 'The Quiet Storm'. The Love Zone, After Hours, and Love and R&B are just some of the names used for this format across the country. But there is only one The Original Quiet Storm.


This concept was conceived by Cathy Hughes in the mid 1970's, while she was sales manager/program director at Howard University's 96.3 WHUR. She tells a completely different story on the podcast 'Questlove Supreme' with The Roots founder and drummer Questlove along with his co-hosts that include radio veteran Laiya St. Clair. 

We posted a story in 2020, 'The Real Story of Cathy Hughes, Melvin Lindsey, and 'The Original Quiet Storm', gathered from various sources that tell the story of how the show was launched. Little did we know that there was more to the story. As you may know Melvin Lindsey would move over to host at NBC owned at the time 93.9 WKYS, where he crossed paths with Donnie Simpson and become a TV host during the early years of BET.  


But Ms. Hughes says there are inaccuracies about how Melvin Lindsey came to be the host of The Quiet Storm at WHUR. She said he was host number three. Since she was there we will let her tell the rest of the story... 

Recently retired Norfolk/Hampton Roads/Newport News TV news anchor Don Roberts was the first host of The Quiet Storm at WHUR.