August 11, 2025 • 6 mins
In honor of National Radio Day on August 20, Elvis Duran opens up about his career in radio, from the way hearing himself on Z100 for the very first time "changed everything in [his] life" to revealing the one tradition he hope never goes away. He also shared why the first time Lady Gaga appeared as a guest on the show was the "most unforgettable" interview he has had to date.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I faintly remember the first time I talked on Z
one hundred in my headphones. It was the loudest thing
I've ever heard in my life. It hurt, it was
so loud, But I tell you, hearing my voice booming
around in my headphones changed everything in my life. And
I'll never forget that first moment and I realized I'm
on Z one hundred and my life was forever changed.
(00:22):
I'll never forget that moment. We've had so many guests
on our show, and being on Z one hundred you
have access to a lot of people. I think the
most unexpected guest was one day Arnold Schwarzenegger was down
the hall doing an interview at another station, and my
producer TJ ran in and said, let's go get him.
And I said, no, no, no, no, I'm not prepared. I
don't know what to say to him. He's Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(00:45):
I don't bring him in. And the next thing I know,
the door opens and walks Arnold. I'm like, holy crap,
what are we going to do? He sat down and
his energy alone ran the interview. It was just, you know,
just add water and stir Man. It was one of
the most unexpected but fantastic interviews we've ever done. I
really enjoyed that most unforgettable interview I believe was Lady
(01:08):
Gaga the first time she came to see us, where
she walked through the door and we were like, holy crap,
once again, there's Lady Gaga. But she said the same
thing to us because she grew up listening to us.
She said, I can't believe I'm here listening to your
voices in the same room as you. I'm thinking us
your Lady Gaga, what do you mean about us? This
is not about us. This is about you, she said,
(01:28):
Now it's about you. And having me on as a
guest today is probably the moment I'll never forget, and
we'll never forget her unforgettable moment at all as well.
So there you go, Gaga. I think my favorite interaction
with listeners. I have many favorite interaction moments with listeners.
One of my favorites the people who are in the
car stuck in traffic on their way to chemotherapy, on
(01:52):
the way to go to their chemo session, knowing they're
going to feel like total hammered dog crap within moments
after they stick those needles in and they call us
to say, hey, you're lightning my mood. You're making me
feel better. Thank you. And we actually called it the
Chemo Club. All of our chemotherapy listeners who are listening
every morning, they rely on us because they know exactly
(02:14):
what it's going to feel like moments later, and they
need for us to be there just give them that
extra little kick and they ask and make them feel like, Hey,
you know it's going to be okay. We're going to
be back here tomorrow morning, so you're going to get
through this day. You're gonna be sick as a dog,
but we'll be back tomorrow. We'll be reliable. Unless it's
a Friday. We won't be on a Saturday. Sorry about that.
We'll see you on Monday. The toughest on air moment
(02:37):
was opening the microphone on September twelfth, two thousand and one,
the day after what happened in Manhattan and in Pennsylvania
and at the Pentagon. Of course, nine to eleven was
just a nightmare for all of us, and opening the
microphone for the first time thinking, well, who am I
to go on the air and talk to these people
who are afraid and hurting and sad and angry. You
(03:01):
know who am I to do that? That was the
toughest moment, But the moment after that was the most rewarding.
We understood what we are all supposed to do. Our
assignment is to be here to serve the public, plain
and simple. We're here to be there for other people,
to guide them to safety, to make them feel good
about where they're going that day, let them know that, hey,
(03:23):
you know, we're here for you. We're here for you
whatever you need. And that was the most rewarding moment.
So those two moments, working in tandem with each other,
the most important moments of my career. I don't really
have regrets in my life. Maybe I should start regretting things,
maybe it'd make me a better person. But I've always
been close to regretting the moments I've ruined the endings
to movies. For instance, I think the Sex and the
(03:45):
City movie came out and I hopped on board. The
next day, I went, oh my god, I can't believe
Big died. Oh hell broke loose. People were calling storming
up to the station to burn me, like you gave
away the ending to this film, And I went Oh god,
I don't think there's any interviews I want to redo.
The only reason you want to redo an interview is
(04:05):
because it was bad, And if it was a bad interview,
I don't want to talk to them ever again anyway.
So I think a challenge that radio people don't always see,
and I know we're all guilty of it is sometimes
over preparing. Over preparing some people say you need to do.
I think if you're over prepared, you have too many
notes in front of you with an interview that's going on.
(04:29):
You're too busy thinking about your next question. You're not
listening to the flow of the interview. You're not listening
to the conversation. You're not listening to what they're saying
as deeply as you should, because whatever they say to
you gives you another question automatically, that's where the interview goes.
So I think the biggest challenge we all need to
work on constantly is stop overthinking. Just relax. Interview people
(04:49):
interview their hearts and their passions, and they'll give you
the answer every time. You know, there really isn't a
radio moment in my career anyway that I want to relive,
because that's the whole point where a live radio sho
We're not pre recorded, we're live. That moment is done,
it's on, is gone. I don't want to go back
there ever again. It gave us what we needed. The
energy is in the atmosphere, it's out in the universe.
(05:11):
We don't need it anymore. I don't want to relive
any moments at all on this show. I know it
sounds really bad, but it's true. Let's move on to
something else. I think the only tradition I like in radio,
and I want it to happen every single year is
a jingle ball. Z one hundred's jingle Ball is It's
that magic moment. It's our super Bowl for Z one
hundred in New York Madison Square Garden with artists that
(05:33):
have played there and sold it out before an artists
who've never played there ever, walking out on that stage
for the first time, the magic of the garden with
Z one hundred in the background. We are the hosts.
That's the tradition I never ever want to let loose of.
I mean, it's the best here in the year twenty
twenty five. How do I describe radio this year? I can't.
(05:53):
You can't really define it until next year. Really in
twenty twenty six, I can tell you about twenty twenty five,
we're still working on. My favorite thing about being a
part of the iHeart Radio family is show biz. You know,
before iHeart Radio came in and taught us there's so
much more to radio than radio. Now we're doing things
(06:15):
to concerts. I remember when we told us were doing
this iHeart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas. We're all
going out, We're going to put it together together. I mean,
what are we doing. We've never done this before. Exactly,
We're gonna go out there and do it ourselves. It's like,
come on, let's put on a show in the barn.
And we invited superstars to come perform on the stage.
We learned how to do it on our own. It
took time. It took us two or three years to
(06:36):
make it work, and we're still doing it. And I
think that's one of the great things about iHeart Radio.
It has proven to us and to our listeners and
our partners that were much more than just radio. We're
so many things, and all the other things we do
other than radio makes doing the radio part all the
more exciting. That's what I love about iHeart,
I faintly remember the first time I talked on Z
one hundred in my headphones. It was the loudest thing
I've ever heard in my life. It hurt, it was
so loud, But I tell you, hearing my voice booming
around in my headphones changed everything in my life. And
I'll never forget that first moment and I realized I'm
on Z one hundred and my life was forever changed.
(00:22):
I'll never forget that moment. We've had so many guests
on our show, and being on Z one hundred you
have access to a lot of people. I think the
most unexpected guest was one day Arnold Schwarzenegger was down
the hall doing an interview at another station, and my
producer TJ ran in and said, let's go get him.
And I said, no, no, no, no, I'm not prepared. I
don't know what to say to him. He's Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(00:45):
I don't bring him in. And the next thing I know,
the door opens and walks Arnold. I'm like, holy crap,
what are we going to do? He sat down and
his energy alone ran the interview. It was just, you know,
just add water and stir Man. It was one of
the most unexpected but fantastic interviews we've ever done. I
really enjoyed that most unforgettable interview I believe was Lady
(01:08):
Gaga the first time she came to see us, where
she walked through the door and we were like, holy crap,
once again, there's Lady Gaga. But she said the same
thing to us because she grew up listening to us.
She said, I can't believe I'm here listening to your
voices in the same room as you. I'm thinking us
your Lady Gaga, what do you mean about us? This
is not about us. This is about you, she said,
(01:28):
Now it's about you. And having me on as a
guest today is probably the moment I'll never forget, and
we'll never forget her unforgettable moment at all as well.
So there you go, Gaga. I think my favorite interaction
with listeners. I have many favorite interaction moments with listeners.
One of my favorites the people who are in the
car stuck in traffic on their way to chemotherapy, on
(01:52):
the way to go to their chemo session, knowing they're
going to feel like total hammered dog crap within moments
after they stick those needles in and they call us
to say, hey, you're lightning my mood. You're making me
feel better. Thank you. And we actually called it the
Chemo Club. All of our chemotherapy listeners who are listening
every morning, they rely on us because they know exactly
(02:14):
what it's going to feel like moments later, and they
need for us to be there just give them that
extra little kick and they ask and make them feel like, Hey,
you know it's going to be okay. We're going to
be back here tomorrow morning, so you're going to get
through this day. You're gonna be sick as a dog,
but we'll be back tomorrow. We'll be reliable. Unless it's
a Friday. We won't be on a Saturday. Sorry about that.
We'll see you on Monday. The toughest on air moment
(02:37):
was opening the microphone on September twelfth, two thousand and one,
the day after what happened in Manhattan and in Pennsylvania
and at the Pentagon. Of course, nine to eleven was
just a nightmare for all of us, and opening the
microphone for the first time thinking, well, who am I
to go on the air and talk to these people
who are afraid and hurting and sad and angry. You
(03:01):
know who am I to do that? That was the
toughest moment, But the moment after that was the most rewarding.
We understood what we are all supposed to do. Our
assignment is to be here to serve the public, plain
and simple. We're here to be there for other people,
to guide them to safety, to make them feel good
about where they're going that day, let them know that, hey,
(03:23):
you know, we're here for you. We're here for you
whatever you need. And that was the most rewarding moment.
So those two moments, working in tandem with each other,
the most important moments of my career. I don't really
have regrets in my life. Maybe I should start regretting things,
maybe it'd make me a better person. But I've always
been close to regretting the moments I've ruined the endings
to movies. For instance, I think the Sex and the
(03:45):
City movie came out and I hopped on board. The
next day, I went, oh my god, I can't believe
Big died. Oh hell broke loose. People were calling storming
up to the station to burn me, like you gave
away the ending to this film, And I went Oh god,
I don't think there's any interviews I want to redo.
The only reason you want to redo an interview is
(04:05):
because it was bad, And if it was a bad interview,
I don't want to talk to them ever again anyway.
So I think a challenge that radio people don't always see,
and I know we're all guilty of it is sometimes
over preparing. Over preparing some people say you need to do.
I think if you're over prepared, you have too many
notes in front of you with an interview that's going on.
(04:29):
You're too busy thinking about your next question. You're not
listening to the flow of the interview. You're not listening
to the conversation. You're not listening to what they're saying
as deeply as you should, because whatever they say to
you gives you another question automatically, that's where the interview goes.
So I think the biggest challenge we all need to
work on constantly is stop overthinking. Just relax. Interview people
(04:49):
interview their hearts and their passions, and they'll give you
the answer every time. You know, there really isn't a
radio moment in my career anyway that I want to relive,
because that's the whole point where a live radio sho
We're not pre recorded, we're live. That moment is done,
it's on, is gone. I don't want to go back
there ever again. It gave us what we needed. The
energy is in the atmosphere, it's out in the universe.
(05:11):
We don't need it anymore. I don't want to relive
any moments at all on this show. I know it
sounds really bad, but it's true. Let's move on to
something else. I think the only tradition I like in radio,
and I want it to happen every single year is
a jingle ball. Z one hundred's jingle Ball is It's
that magic moment. It's our super Bowl for Z one
hundred in New York Madison Square Garden with artists that
(05:33):
have played there and sold it out before an artists
who've never played there ever, walking out on that stage
for the first time, the magic of the garden with
Z one hundred in the background. We are the hosts.
That's the tradition I never ever want to let loose of.
I mean, it's the best here in the year twenty
twenty five. How do I describe radio this year? I can't.
(05:53):
You can't really define it until next year. Really in
twenty twenty six, I can tell you about twenty twenty five,
we're still working on. My favorite thing about being a
part of the iHeart Radio family is show biz. You know,
before iHeart Radio came in and taught us there's so
much more to radio than radio. Now we're doing things
(06:15):
to concerts. I remember when we told us were doing
this iHeart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas. We're all
going out, We're going to put it together together. I mean,
what are we doing. We've never done this before. Exactly,
We're gonna go out there and do it ourselves. It's like,
come on, let's put on a show in the barn.
And we invited superstars to come perform on the stage.
We learned how to do it on our own. It
took time. It took us two or three years to
(06:36):
make it work, and we're still doing it. And I
think that's one of the great things about iHeart Radio.
It has proven to us and to our listeners and
our partners that were much more than just radio. We're
so many things, and all the other things we do
other than radio makes doing the radio part all the
more exciting. That's what I love about iHeart,
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