A final Kiss and Matty’s gone
Kiss 108’s “Matty in the Morning” radio host Matt Siegel has announced his retirement after more than 40 years on the air.
“This past year has been a little rough for me. I had brain surgery. I had a broken foot. I started getting a little grumpy on the radio, which I hate because all I want to do is make people laugh. That’s my job, just to make people laugh, and I got off target, I guess you would say,” Siegel admitted Tuesday.
This news comes after the 72-year-old host took a hiatus for the past two weeks.
“I’m a lucky guy for a million reasons, but five of them are a great wife and four great kids,” Siegel continued. “And my great wife and my great kids talked with me over the last several weeks and helped me come to a decision and the decision is this: As of now, I am retired. I’m leaving Kiss 108 and starting my new life as a mediocre golfer.”
“Hit ‘em straight,” Kiss108 said in a statement.
“Matty in the Morning has been entertaining Bostonians for over forty years,” the station said, ticking off honors including Marconi Awards and his induction into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame over the course of his “legendary” career.
“Congratulations, Matty, we hope you enjoy your well-deserved retirement.”
Siegel engaged in some reflection, pointing out that the gig at Kiss108 wasn’t his first radio job. “When I think back to when I started in radio, making $2.00 an hour, I never thought I would mount to this,” he said. I never thought I would win two Marconi Awards, which are given out to the top radio announcer in the country. I won it twice. I’m so proud of that.”
Known for his light touch, laughs and sometimes “silly” gags, Siegel also reflected on heavier moments when the job called for more.
“I put the laughs away on 9/11 and did a serious show, where I stayed on for eight straight hours, to try to be there,” he said. Siegel also hosted the Boston Strong Show after the Marathon Bombing, an invite he said he was honored to receive.
And during the pandemic, as people shut in, “it was awful — it was very stressful,” he said. I was stuck in the house and all that stuff. I just tried, every day, so hard, to be light and fun because I thought that’s what you guys, my listeners, needed at the time.”
“It’s very possible that I could cry, right now, and I — I know it doesn’t feel very manly to cry over a radio show but, yeah, it’s been a wonderful run,” he said.