Why this Phoenix rock radio DJ has left the airwaves

A familiar voice for local rock radio fans just faded from the Valley airwaves.

Longtime KUPD afternoon deejay Fitz Madrid has parted ways with the Phoenix rock station after more than 20 years behind its mics. His departure ends a two-decade run that helped define the afternoon drive at the station for Phoenix listeners.

Madrid announced the news in a Facebook post on Dec. 12, saying he was laid off by KUPD’s parent company, Hubbard Radio.

“My time at KUPD has come to a close,” he wrote.

A weekday afternoon drive fixture, Madrid joined KUPD in March 2005. The self-described “journeyman radio dude” found a home in Phoenix after bouncing between stations across the U.S., soundtracking Valley commutes for local listeners for more than two decades.

In his Facebook post, Madrid took a measured, grateful tone about his exit from the station.

“There is no crash out. There is no bad blood,” he wrote. “Getting laid off is just part of the life I’ve chosen, and I have no regrets. My time at KUPD was nothing but face cards, and I deeply appreciate the guys I worked with and for at Hubbard.”

Madrid ultimately found a long-term home at KUPD. As he told Phoenix New Times earlier this year, the San Diego-born deejay cut his teeth at radio stations in his hometown, Florida, and Alaska before landing in Phoenix.

“(It felt) like I walked into something that was so fucking big,” Madrid said at the time.

Beyond becoming a fixture on Phoenix rock radio and a key voice on KUPD’s jock roster, Madrid stacked up memories and leaned fully into his passions during his run. A Dungeons & Dragons fan since adolescence, who says that it spoke to him as a “kid who was different in Reagan’s America,” he got to play sessions on the air and with local musicians.

One of Madrid’s most beloved moments came just earlier this year, when Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, then serving as acting governor, stopped by KUPD’s studio to sign a proclamation declaring July 22 “Ozzy Day” following the death of metal legend and Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne.

“My hair is standing up on end,” Madrid says. “To see Arizona just acknowledge the power of Ozzy’s music and Black Sabbath and all that kind of stuff, it was an amazing moment.”

Madrid stated in his Facebook post that he appreciates his experiences at KUPD and thanked his listeners.

“I have immensely enjoyed our time together. Spending the last few years goofing off on the radio with you guys has been a secret joy for me. Which, I understand, may seem like a counterintuitive. But it’s true. For all the out loud stuff on the air and public-facing nonsense, the real reward was feeling your friendship, good humor, and generosity,” he wrote. “My whole life, I’ve always felt like an outsider. And being on the radio was a way for me to connect with a world I never could quite understand.”