4. She got us talking about love.

There was always this invisible barrier between the listeners and the jocks, and that barrier always came into play the minute the personal lives of the radio personalities were the topic of discussion. For some reason, we just didn’t care who the DJ we listened to everyday was dating–unless that DJ was Delamar. We cared about her love life so much, even if at times, it must have already gotten on her nerves. And unlike the way we treated other celebrity jocks, most of us felt like we had a personal stake in said love life. At the core of it all, she got us talking about love.

[Photo c/o Rose Ann Domingo]

Singing about love, on the other hand? A bit tougher. [Photo c/o Rose Ann Domingo]

The Legacy: It’s pretty amazing to know that our fascination with Delamar from hoping she got hooked with Chico to being an amazing mother of two has predated all that social media business. She connected with us on such a profound level, we made it our business to hope she found her happily ever after– -and it appears she has. In the middle of all our cynicism, in the middle of Delamar herself once saying “not everyone is entitled to a love story,” Delamar made us believe in love. For friends. For significant others. For family.

3. She mastered the art of self-reinvention.

As time went by, Delamar seemed to always know exactly how to reorient herself, whatever changes her life may have brought to her on-air persona. From being put in a love team with her radio partner, to becoming a mother, to navigating her way through a three-man radio show after being in a tandem for so long, to now holding her own in a four-man show in her final week, Delle knew how to make the most of what she had been given, and now, she reinvents herself one more time as she bids goodbye to radio.

It still hasn’t sunk in.

The Legacy: Running parallel to her, so many other DJ’s have managed to reinvent themselves over time, while others have ended up resorting to the same old schtick decades down the road. While we can never say for sure how many people in radio have taken a cue from her, it’s easy to see that Delle will always be a great example of how to gracefully evolve for anyone willing to take pointers from her.

2. She inspired an entire generation who are blazing their own trails on radio now.

This doesn’t really require much explanation, as it should be obvious: somewhere out there, someone who has been listening to The Morning Rush wants to become a DJ someday, and Delamar is the reason why. It happened to me in 1996, and about 8 years later, lo and behold, I was in radio, too.

At least two people in that photo were influenced by Delamar.

The Legacy: I may not be the best example, but I certainly know my own story fairly well–I got into radio precisely because of Delamar’s influence. In college, I was Radio 1 and my buddy was Chico, but when I would help them out during The Morning Rush, Delle was actually the one keeping an eye on me as I handled playing the CD’s and commercial carts for them (yes, this used to be a thing). She didn’t have to do that since she wasn’t responsible for me, but she did, and I was all the better for it.

1. She made our mornings just a little brighter.

This, in a nutshell, is why there will never be another Delamar. When you’ve spent two decades waking up in the morning and expecting to hear her voice to start your day right, knowing for a fact that she won’t be doing that any longer definitely saddens us.

The Legacy: No matter how many other partners Chico might find himself paired up with from this day on, it will always be “Chico and Delamar” for us. Always.

Wherever life takes you next, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You will always be cherished by people like me who have spent the last two decades waking up to happier mornings thanks to you.

Got your own cherished Delamar memories? Sound off below!

Pages: 1 2