West Texas Loses A Hall Of Famer

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 – Award winning DJ Dugg Collins, a former KFTI-AM morning announcer, plus Mel Tillis owned KMML, KDJW-KBUY, and KIXZ in Amarillo, passed away at his home in Amarillo, Texas.Collins, 67, was on the air from 1999 to 2008 for AM 1070. Collins got his start in radio at KCTX in Childress Texas in 1959, and he worked at radio stations in Texas and Oklahoma. In 1969, Collins did his very first professional recording session. The label was the home of Johnny Paycheck, who would, in 1970, become Collins' record producer. In the mid 70's, he signed a contract with SCR in Dallas and placed two songs in the national charts.  Check out a video of Dugg Collins after the jump.
Collins won a number of awards and honors, including the Country Music Association's DJ of the Year Award in 1979, and he was inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame in 1996. 

Collins moved back to Amarillo to be with family in 2009. He passed away one year to the day after his wife, Joyce, died following a long battle with cancer.