'He was definitely a softy': Friends, family recall radio personality Greg 'Gonzo' Sutton

Morning radio won't feel the same.

Greg Sutton, known to locals as Gonzo from the "Morning Movement" on 99 Rock, died March 13 from injuries he suffered in an automobile accident earlier this year. He was 44.

"It was just kind of a gut punch," said "Morning Movement" co-host Taryn Driggers. "It's just hard to believe when you are just talking to somebody and then the next day, it's like they're not here anymore."

Early Years

Sutton was born on Aug. 8. 1979, at Travis Air Force Base, California. The first few weeks of his life were anything but normal. At just 7 weeks old, Sutton contracted a severe case of meningitis and nearly died, according to his mother, Paula McLaney.

But Sutton recovered, and when he was 3, his family moved to Altus, Oklahoma, where his father, Robert Sutton, was stationed at the nearby Air Force base.

Sutton spent most of his formative years in Oklahoma before his parents divorced. After that, he moved to Laurel Hill with his father at 13 and eventually graduated from Laurel Hill High School. Sutton received a full scholarship to Western Kentucky University to pursue an agriculture degree.

However, his true calling would come when he discovered his love of radio.

Becoming Gonzo

When Sutton turned 16, he started an internship at 99 Rock under the supervision of local radio icons Anthony Proffitt, Woofy Ramone and William "Taxi Bill" West. From that point on, he made radio his life.

After DJing at 99 Rock and Z96, Sutton moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where in 2002, he was named as the assistant program director and music director for 94.3-The X. In 2004, he moved to Tallahassee, where he became the program director for X-101.5.

In March 2012, Sutton returned to Okaloosa County, where he took the program director position at "103.1-The Blaze" before returning to 99 Rock in 2015.

Throughout his career, Sutton went by many names in various radio markets across the southeast, such as Crank, Mason and Carson Scott. But for most people on the Emerald Coast, he was known as Gonzo, named after a journalist he adored, Hunter S. Thompson, and not the loveable Muppet character his mother would have preferred.

"I would love for it to have been the Muppets," McLaney laughed. "I tease him about it. I would buy him little Muppets creatures. He's got some of them in his home right now that I bought because I like them better than Gonzo, but he said, 'It was the Gonzo effect, Mom.'"

For years, McLaney said her son would rope her into various tall tales he told when he was on air. Most notable to her was when he told anyone listening about various tattoos his mother allegedly had.

"No, not one," McLaney said when asked about how many tattoos she had. "I called him several times and said, 'I can't believe you just said that.' He'd say, 'Mom, it's radio.'

"He has several people who played roles. Even his grandfather, before he passed away, would call down there and play roles with Greg on the station," she added. "He was just so talented and creative."

His creativity also added to the local music scene in Okaloosa County, as he was the leading creative mind behind Blaze Fest in Niceville and kickstarted Club LA, which became one of the premiere concert halls in the area. Sutton also contributed to rock music by launching the career of rock band Ten Years by helping them land their first record deal in 1999.

Morning Movement

For the past three years, Sutton has co-hosted the "Morning Movement" with Driggers, who began her involvement with the show when now-Fort Walton Beach City Councilman Nic Allegretto and his father, Mark, better known to the community as Murph, hosted the show in 2013.

For Driggers, the sudden loss of Sutton is akin to those feelings she had when Murph died suddenly in 2015.

"It just didn't feel real. Like, I just worked with him yesterday," Driggers said .

Driggers said plans for Sutton's return to the air were already in progress when he died, with Sutton hoping that he could return as early as that Wednesday.

"We were really excited," Driggers said. "He was trying to rush the process. He really wanted to get back to work. He hated not being at work. So I didn't really think much of it when he didn't come in. You know, maybe he's not up to it.

"He was my work husband. He taught me a lot that I needed to know, and he was always so funny," she added. "He was the first person I saw every morning. He was like a battery for me, like I hated when he didn't come in and he hated when I didn't come in. We were just each other's batteries."

With Sutton's wealth of knowledge in the radio business, Driggers has been able to grow in her role as an on-air personality in the community. In her three years as partners, which were filled with early mornings, an on-stage "sacrifice" at a GWAR concert, and many stories shared between the two, the most impactful lesson she learned from him was being a good friend to others.

"Whenever we would sign off air, he would always say 'reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while' so I started doing that," Driggers said. "I started doing that, just texting old friends. Every time he would say that, I'm just like, you know what? I'm going to see what this person's up to."

The man behind the mic

For those who only knew Sutton from his on-air persona, you would expect him to be this outgoing, charismatic, and larger-than-life character. But those who knew him well said the man behind the Gonzo character was much different.

"He really did care a lot about people and was passionate about certain things," Driggers said. He didn't convey that side of him too hard when he was off the air; he was definitely a softy."

A highlight of Sutton's off-air work involved giving back to those in the community. The first passion project he began was charitable work with St. Jude Children's Hospital, where a few years ago, he helped raise more than $38,000 for the nonprofit medical center.

"He went up there several times to the hospital and hung out with some of the kids," McLaney said . "He loved that. He was just that kind of guy, he had that heart of a warrior, even at home."

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Sutton also was a strong advocate for mental health issues.

In 2014, Sutton founded the 1 Lap Ahead Foundation after his great nephew, Austin, committed suicide after he turned 16. With his charitable work, Sutton helped countless families through various outreach projects focused on local youth in the community.

"That's why he always reminded others to check in on people," McLaney said. "You never know what a person is going through, so check on them if they haven't heard from them in a while.

"He has always been my best friend. He was my buddy," McLaney said. "He supported people that I had no idea about. If they needed help, Greg would do anything he could do to reach that need, including giving from his own pocket.

"He was shy, but you would never know that. When he left the radio station, he became Greg," she said. He was a chef. He loved to read, write and watch documentaries. He watched documentaries from the time he got out of the hospital until the time he passed away. He just loved learning."

Sutton leaves behind a dedicated fanbase, his crew at 99 Rock, his mother and his stepfather, Rusty, along with his father, Robert Sutton, and his two brothers, Thomas and Jamie.

On April 13, Club LA will host a benefit memorial concert and silent auction featuring Pandora's Box, an Aerosmith tribute band. For more information on the event and ticket pricing, go to rockdestin.com. To help support the family, T-shirts in his honor are available for purchase. To buy one, go to https://tinyurl.com/4b5fptpv.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: 'Definitely a softy': Recalling radio personality Greg 'Gonzo' Sutton