Remembering Ralphie May on His Birthday

I'll never forget the day I heard our pal Ralphie May had passed. It was October 6th 2017.  It was a year I lost 2 of my best friends.  I remember seeing Ralphie a few months before he died and told him my radio partner Bob Garrett had passed just a few months ago.  Ralphie loved Bob.  He called him "Weezy" because of his chronic lung condition.

If you were in radio, chances are you had a relationship with Ralphie.  I think he really loved being on the radio.  I remember he once came into the studio all week while he was on vacation with his family in Naples.  He didn't have to.  All of his shows were sold out.

I have never seen anyone smoke more weed than Ralphie May.  He once gave me a THC breath strip and I was afraid to take it because his tolerance was so high and he told me it really messed him up.  I remember giving that breath strip the next day to Aaron Lewis from Staind who got yelled at by is handler for ingesting something a "stranger" gave him.

One time on the air I spoke of the failed bachelor party my best man (Weezy) threw me in Orlando.  Ralphie rented a limo bus for me and my friends to take us to his show in Marco Island that night.  He was upset my first bachelor party was a bust.  We had a great time that night.  There ended up being a some cops outside our bus which freaked Ralphie out, obviously because he was ridin dirty and he split like a bat out of of hell.

He was a great guy and a real friend who always texted me back whenever I needed something.  Whether I needed him to voice something, or get him on the air, or needed tickets to a show for one of my friends.  He always came through.

Happy birthday big fellow, I love you.

-Zito

Check out the trailer for the new documentary"What's Eating Ralphie May"