Gregg Hughes

Gregg Hughes (born May 23, 1963) better known by his air name Opie, is an American radio personality and podcast host best known as the former co-host of the Opie and Anthony radio show that aired from 1995 to 2014 with Anthony Cumia and comedian Jim Norton.

In 1981, Hughes graduated from Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, New York; his yearbook lists basketball, the New York Islanders hockey team, skiing, and films as his interests.

He wished for a career in radio, and graduated from State University of New York at Geneseo with a degree in communications.

During his time studying, Hughes worked air shifts at the university radio station.

After graduating from college, Hughes landed a job in the promotions department at WCMF in Rochester, New York, but soon moved to work on the station's morning show then hosted by Brother Wease.

Hughes credits Wease as a mentor in developing his on-air personality and furthering his career.

Hughes left WCMF to work the midnight to 6:00 a.m. shift at WUFX in Buffalo, New York.

As the station was unsupervised during his shift, Hughes was able to develop his style further by performing more outrageous bits, like broadcasting from the roof of the station's building and interviewing passers-by on the street.

Hughes's next job was at WBAB on Long Island as the host of The Nighttime Attitude, a rock music show from 8:00 p.m. to midnight.

In August 1994, Hughes held an O. J. Simpson song parody contest for listeners surrounding the outcome of Simpson's murder case.

One of the participants was from a local band named Rotgut that featured Anthony Cumia as lead singer with his brother Joe on guitar.

The two performed "Gonna Electric Shock O. J." sung to the tune of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.

The song became a hit on Hughes's show, and the two made their first appearance in September 1994 to perform the song live.

Cumia made several more appearances soon after; in early 1995, he and Hughes decided to become a radio team.

After Hughes produced an air check and had sent it to several radio stations, he and Cumia accepted an offer from WAAF in Boston to host afternoons.

The show launched as Opie and Anthony on March 13, 1995.

They remained in Boston until they were fired in April 1998 from WAAF for an April Fool's Day prank involving Mayor Thomas Menino.

Opie and Anthony told their listeners the mayor had been killed in a car accident while transporting a young male Haitian prostitute.

In June 1998, Hughes and Cumia were back on New York station WNEW-FM, where they became a top 10 afternoon drive show in New York by 2000.

In 1999, Hughes considered leaving the show; however Anthony convinced him to stay, and bring Jim Norton on full-time as a go-between for their off air troubles.

Anthony attributed these issues to his divorce and off-air personal troubles.

In 2001, Opie and Anthony signed a syndication deal with Infinity to syndicate their show on 22 stations nationwide, including WBCN in Boston, longtime rival of WAAF.

On August 15, 2002, during "Sex for Sam 3", comedian Paul Mecurio encouraged Brian Florence and Loretta Harper, a Virginia couple visiting Manhattan, to have anal sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Intense media scrutiny led to many demanding that Opie and Anthony be fired.

Opie and Anthony broadcast the next day, but the show went into reruns the following week.

On August 22, Infinity suspended Opie and Anthony for the duration of their contract and canceled the show.

Opie and Anthony returned to the air on October 4, 2004, exclusively for XM Satellite Radio.

On April 24, 2006, Opie and Anthony announced that they had signed a deal with CBS Radio in which the first three hours of the show would be broadcast on nine of CBS's rock stations, the first official show airing April 26.

On May 15, 2007, XM suspended Opie and Anthony for 30 days, in response to a broadcast featuring a homeless man brought into the studio.

Opie and Anthony dubbed the man, who mentioned the possibility of raping Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush, "Homeless Charlie".

After the suspension they returned to their normal split schedule.

Later on the same year, Opie gave a cake to a homeless person as a reward for a competition on his show.

However, Opie decided to record himself stomping on the homeless man's cake after he offered Opie a part of the cake.

From 2014 to 2016, Hughes and Norton stayed at SiriusXM as co-hosts of Opie with Jim Norton.

In October 2016, Hughes became the host of his own show, The Opie Radio Show, which lasted until his firing, for filming an employee as he used the toilet, on July 7, 2017.

On May 8, 2018, Hughes launched his new podcast, The Opie Radio Podcast on the Westwood One network.

In June 2019 the relationship with Westwood One ended, but the podcast continued.

Hughes was born in New York City and raised in an Irish-American family in Centerport, New York, on Long Island.

He has described his mother as "pretty strict".

He gained the nickname "Opie" because of his childhood resemblance to Opie Taylor, a fictional character from The Andy Griffith Show portrayed by Ron Howard.