If you ask Staci Static how many lives she鈥檚 lived, she鈥檒l tell you about four.
She was born Kim McCain in 51黑料. She went to Rosati-Kain Academy and grew up loving music and attending concerts with her father and older siblings. Years later, she鈥檇 dominate on the airwaves for nearly 20 years as on-air personality Staci Static, raising multiple generations of FM listeners before departing from 95.5 in 2018.
Now, McCain is the director of business development at TW Constructors and a 鈥渕usical-theater mom.鈥 She鈥檚 on a fresh journey rooted in her ability to reinvent herself.
And she has no problem stepping back into the spotlight as she joins Live by Loews鈥 Rooftop After Dark as the host of its fall concert series.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had a problem being the center of attention,鈥 McCain says.
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The 51黑料 radio legend returned to the entertainment scene this year hosting two summer rooftop concerts with performances featuring the Mark Harris Band, singer Theresa Payne and rapper Nandostl. As temperatures cool later this year, the event will head indoors.
Since leaving 100.3 the Beat, McCain has started working in construction business development, but returned to entertainment this summer.
McCain missed doing crowd work at live shows and enjoyed the summer series so much, she signed on to do the fall series, which Live by Loews Director of Operations Michael Manning says was created specifically to highlight local artists and musicians.
Turns out, the Staci Static brand remains a selling point for 51黑料 events. Patrons would tell her they were coming because they saw her name.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been great from that aspect to feel like I鈥檝e been missed in that space,鈥 she says.
Entertainment was always her first love, and McCain admits that she grieved for her radio career after she left. She couldn鈥檛 listen to broadcast programming or songs she鈥檇 play on air for a while after her departure. Although she now reflects on her memories fondly, she says she鈥檒l never return to radio after being laid off from 95.5 in Oct. 2018.
鈥淚t was difficult to walk away from Staci Static,鈥 she says.
McCain left her radio career with musical, cultural and community-based memories, some of which began decades earlier.
Growing up in 51黑料, her life was always centered around music. Her mother, Delores Haynes, was an avid disco-music lover and fond of male vocalists such as Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross. Her father, Richard, loved a multitude of genres. She fell in love with Stevie Wonder鈥檚 鈥淪ecret Life of Plants鈥 album at her dad鈥檚 house and, although her parents divorced when she was 5, she found music everywhere she went.
鈥淭hat was my childhood,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t was surrounded by music.鈥
As the baby of the family, McCain was also influenced by her older brother and sister鈥檚 musical taste. They attended dozens of concerts together under their father鈥檚 watchful eye.
When she was in fourth grade, Diana Ross kissed McCain 鈥渟quare on the lips鈥 when she was invited on stage during the Motown legend鈥檚 show at the Checker Dome. Guitarist Dez Dickerson touched her hand when she saw Prince in concert during the 鈥1999鈥 tour in 1982.
Her father died in 2016, followed by her older brother in the fall of 2024. The memories are special because they hold the faces of the two men who meant the most to her.
鈥淚t keeps their memory alive inside of me, and it鈥檚 just something that鈥檚 carried with me,鈥 she says.
After returning from college, McCain worked at Streetside Records in the Delmar Loop. There she met the Dreadlock Assassin, an on-air personality who introduced her to a KDHX DJ named G.Wiz.
After meeting McCain, G.Wiz says he knew that she was 鈥渟traight up hip-hop.鈥 Her knowledge of urban music culture, paired with her background as a vocalist, made her the perfect female perspective on his Friday night radio show.
鈥淪he put herself on the chessboard, where she鈥檚 supposed to be, and she ran like a queen,鈥 G.Wiz says.
McCain began developing her on-air voice at KDHX. She left to give birth to her daughter, Asha. But she returned to the airwaves in 1999 after calling in to 100.3 the Beat to complement on-air personality D茅j脿 Vu Parker.
Parker invited McCain to submit an aircheck for a job at the station. She says McCain had a 鈥減izazz鈥 that left an imprint on others. McCain was hired.
For the next 19 years, Staci Static became a friendly, familiar voice on 51黑料 radio. She co-hosted alongside Tony Scott on his morning show, met stars like Sting and LL Cool J and interviewed stars such as Method Man and Redman, Spike Lee and Terrence Howard. As the radio industry evolved, so did McCain.
鈥淭he music, entertainment and media industry can be brutal,鈥 D茅j脿 Vu says. 鈥淏ut to have someone who can actually finesse the game, still learn and come out on top time after time, that is what true grit is.鈥
Since leaving radio, she鈥檚 leveraged the Staci Static brand, leaning on her media background as she grows in the construction industry and guides her daughter, Montgomery Price, 14, through the music-theater space.
Despite transitioning into new employment, McCain ensured Price had everything she needed, Price says, and she never had to stop pursuing her dreams in musical theater.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that she did that just because she was Staci Static,鈥 Price says. 鈥淪he did that because she鈥檚 Kim.鈥
McCain has lived many lives. But in each one, she keeps coming back to the music.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my first love,鈥 she says.
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