WATCH: All Maltese Radio Stations Go Offline During Morning Peak Time For A Heartbreaking United Tribute
This morning’s drive to work featured a very rare moment of absolute silence from every single Maltese radio station. But while that usually means something terribly wrong has happened in the broadcast, this nationwide minute of silence was actually planned as a tribute to one of Maltese radio’s most important names.
Last week, the tragic news that pioneering radio DJ Terry Farrugia had died after a brave three-year battle with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) broke thousands of hearts across Malta.
This morning, ahead of his funeral at 2pm, all of Malta’s radio stations joined Vibe FM to bid farewell to the pioneer in the most beautiful, heartbreaking way possible; by broadcasting nothing but silence for a whole minute.
“We are who we are today, because of you”
“If it weren’t for this person, I wouldn’t be here behind the microphone speaking to you,” was the general statement uttered by DJs at Magic Malta, 89.7 Bay, Smash Radio, NET FM, ONE Radio, XFM and of course Vibe FM, where Terry left his last big impact on the island’s airwaves.
“He used to tell us that dead air is the worst thing that can happen to a radio station,” a visibly emotional Johnathan Abel smiled and told his listeners, as Magic’s Carlo Borg Bonaci asked the late pioneer to “take care of us from up there”.
“It was quite surreal when we were editing all of this morning’s recordings and dug up Terry’s raw recordings,” Vibe’s Frank Zammit told Lovin Malta
Terry’s family has made a specific request ahead of this afternoon’s funeral
“In lieu of flowers and cards, the family requests donations to be made to Puttinu Cares,” Terry Time Trust’s Facebook post reads.
The post finishes up with the words “Thank You Terry”, a phrase so many local celebrities, fans, friends and family have uttered over the last couple of days.