Joe Cicero leaving radio station 105.5′s morning show after 15 years on air

After 15 years co-hosting the morning show with Tina Bree at WZSR Star 105.5-FM, Joe Cicero is signing off.

Cicero announced at the top of Wednesday’s broadcast that Friday will be his last day in the 5 to 10 a.m. time slot. Starting in January, Cicero will instead work with Scott Dehn at McHenry Outdoor Theater.

Cicero’s time at the station “has been nothing short of amazing” he said this week. “I never saw myself do anything outside of radio” as he starts his new position as president of promotions and marketing for the drive-in.

In a prepared statement, station manager Kathleen Cahill praised Cicero’s tenure at the station.

“For the last fifteen incredible years, Joe and Tina have been the voices listeners tuned in to every morning creating a remarkably strong bond with our audience. After getting up everyday before dawn to entertain and connect with our community, Joe Cicero has decided to step back from his role as Star’s beloved morning show host to allow himself more time to pursue a new opportunity,” Cahill wrote.

It was a casual conversation over the summer with Dehn that got the two talking about possibilities for the drive-in and for Cicero himself, he said.

“I love movies. My whole life, I have loved movies,” Cicero said.

That, combined with Dehn’s same commitment to community, made it the right move for Cicero now, he said.

“Scott is so active in the community already, with what we have built at the radio station station ... it is combining the two with more community interaction and having an impact here. We are going to build on that even more, and it is about more than movies,” Cicero said.

The Crystal Lake station has been home to Cicero for much of his on-air career. He started his post-college station career in 1999, working at WCKG 105.9-FM in Chicago in the overnight shift. From there he went to WXLC 102.3-FM in Waukegan, and then to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2008.

Then, in July 2009, he started on the morning show with Tina Bree at Star 105.5.

During their time working together, the two have become family, Cicero said.

“We have bared it all on the air: our life events, marriage, divorce, losing friend and family, always taking it head on,” he said.

“It would be nice to sleep in.”

—  WZSR Star 105.5's Joe Cicero on his pending departure from the station

In a text to the Northwest Herald, Bree said she was proud of Cicero and their work.

“He does everything with such a passionate intensity. He shared his entire life on the air in hopes to gain trust from our listeners. That is an art in this business that I learned from him and became our motto,” she wrote.

Parts of his own life have been framed by both radio and movies, Cicero said.

At 17, he was working as a parts delivery driver in Chicago. As he brought parts to electricians across the city, he listened to the radio “constantly,” Cicero said. That love of radio led to an internship at Chicago’s Q101 when he was 19.

His love of movies goes back even further. One of the earliest memories the 48-year-old Cicero has is going to the now-shuttered Cascade Drive-In Theater in West Chicago with his parents in 1984.

“I remember laying on the hood of the car, under a blanket, and watching ‘Ghostbusters.’ It is a vivid memory,” he said.

Later, working at WZSR, Cicero first met Dehn at a promotional event at the McHenry Outdoor Theater. The projector wasn’t digital yet, and Dehn let Cicero load the old film reel into the projector. The movie was “Back to the Future” and Cicero “was on top of the world,” he said.

Cicero was Dehn’s business contact at the radio station, and the two would always talk about movies.

“We would talk about things we thought about for the future” of the drive-in, Dehn said.

As Dehn told Cicero what he wanted to do at the drive-in, including potential future expansion, Cicero came back with ideas to help make that happen.

“I go, ‘Hold on. This sounds like something I want to do,’” Cicero said.

Timing-wise, the job change also allows him to do a few other things he hasn’t in 25 years, Cicero said – including a normal sleep schedule.

For the past 25 years, he’s been doing either overnight or early morning time slots. For the past 15 years he’s been getting up at 3:30 a.m. to be on the air at 5 a.m.

“It would be nice to sleep in,” Cicero said.

While he is leaving the morning show, Cicero is not leaving the station entirely. Beginning in 2025, he will do a 8 a.m. to noon Saturday Special show.

“It will be a local showcase, about things happening like we would do during the week,” Cicero said.

He does not know how or if his departure will change the morning show for Bree.

“I am not trying to manage what she does, just what I do,” he said.

Bree thanked the listeners for their support over the years, without commenting on what may be next.

“It’s been 15 crazy and incredible years on the air,” Bree wrote. “Thank you for allowing us into your lives, your homes, and your hearts. Your support, laughter, and connection have meant the world to us and kept us going for all those years. Though this chapter ends, the memories and moments we’ve shared will stay with me forever.”