HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — If you’re an early riser or you’ve lived in North Alabama, chances are you’ve heard “We up… Are you up?” It comes from the long-time radio station WEUP.
The station is packed with history. It’s the first black owned radio station in Alabama.
Over the weekend, WEUP general manager and radio icon Hundley Batts Sr. died at 81 years old.
Now, friends and community members are remembering his legacy.
“He’s just poured into me my entire life…not only me, but just others in the neighborhood,” William Hampton said.
Hampton is a lifelong family friend of Batts.
WEUP made history, making it the first black owned and operated radio station in the state of Alabama.
Batts took it over in 1987.
“We did some things technically that just were unheard of to service the black community here in the Tennessee valley,” Steve Murray said.
Murry is the current program director at WEUP.
It offers both AM and FM stations, and for decades, it’s played R&B, worship music, and talk shows.
Although behind the good music and the entertainment was a man who loomed large.
“He would give us sound advice, whether it was at church or just out in the streets, you know, he would always have a word of wisdom,” said Hampton. “He shared a nugget with me: to always treat people right.. to treat people with respect.”
Batts was a pioneer in the world of radio, a businessman, and a leader in his church, but friends, like former WEUP talk show host David Person, say the best hat he wore was storyteller.
“The man had an amazing array of stories that he could tell about Huntsville and about people,” David Person said. “He might ask, ‘Who’s your daddy? or who’s your mother? or, are you so-and-so’s cousin?’ and then he’d have a story.”
He was an unforgettable man with a mark here to stay.
“The legacy that he leaves will live on through those of us, those lives he’s touched,” Hampton said. “We will implement those things that he shared with us to future generations.”
WEUP still operates to this day with four different AM and FM stations.
Funeral information is not available at this time, but updated information can be found in his obituary online.
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