Balancing Heartbreak and Hope, Delilah Continues to ‘Rise to the Occasion’ For Listeners.

Nearing the 41st anniversary of her nightly radio show, and its 29th in national syndication, Premiere Radio Network’s Delilah opens up about using her own heartbreak to help others in a People magazine profile.

“When I’m hurting or empty, and I open my heart to share with someone else, I’m filled up,” the Radio Hall of Fame inductee says. “Some nights, I take calls that wipe me out, and I got nothing left. When people want, they take energy from you that drains you, but when somebody has a need, and you rise to the occasion to meet that need, you’re the one who’s filled up.”

Since 1996, the Premiere Radio Networks-syndicated host has taken song requests and dedications and given advice to listeners of more than 150 adult contemporary and Christian AC stations nationwide, while having endured personal tragedies of her own. Delilah lost two teenage sons, one from complications related to sickle cell anemia in 2012, the other to suicide five years later. Even so, she continues to offer hope for listeners every night.

“When you share your experience, strength and hope, you’re impacting people from a real point of view,” Delilah says. “Many people give advice based on something they’ve read or were taught, but when you experience something, and you’ve come through, and you help somebody along the same path you’ve been on, that’s the best advice, because you know the path.”

The host, who got her first on-air job at 13 on KDUN-AM in Reedsport, OR — a station she now owns, and which carries her nightly show — tells People that “every person that you encounter has a multitude of stories. Everyone, including people that we dismiss — homeless people, elderly people, and the terminally ill. They’re loved, they’re so valuable. When people listen, I want them to know that’s the truth. There’s nobody with a mind or a heart exactly like yours that makes you so unique and so precious.”

While Delilah refers to herself as the “Queen of Sappy Love Songs,” she notes that finding the perfect song for every situation is a talent all its own. “My brain stores lyrics, sometimes not the whole song, just a line or two,” she says, while considering “the essence of the story.” As for listener requests, Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” led all other songs on the show for 25 years, until Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” came along in 2017. “[It’s] a great song with so many situations,” she says.

The host shares with People how moved she is when listeners tell her how important the show has been to them. “When somebody says, ‘I grew up listening to you. I made my kids listen to you, growing up in the backseat of the car, now my grandkids...’ When you’re a part of the fiber of somebody’s life, of their family, there’s no higher compliment.”