Renowned Seattle DJ Marco Collins Could Use Some Help Battling Cancer

Our man is in a (pearl) jam. Marco Collins's GoFundMe

Marco Collins—who became one of the major catalysts of Seattle's rise as a musical power in the '90s while working as a DJ and music director at KNDD (The End) 107.7 FM—is currently in the midst of fighting Stage 2C Seminoma Testicular cancer, which had metastasized to his abdominal aorta and kidneys. The intense chemotherapy treatments will prevent him from working over the next several months, and though Collins has health insurance, thanks to Obamacare, it's insufficient to enable him to afford basic necessities during his period of treatment and recovery. So, his friends Anne Dederer and Michelle Quisenberry have launched a GoFundMe campaign, with a goal of $15,000; it's about halfway there as I type. You can contribute here.

Collins was the first radio jock to air Nirvana's paradigm-shifting hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and he helped to significantly raise profiles for alt-rock acts such as Beck, Harvey Danger, Weezer, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, and Garbage. In addition, he's championed several more obscure groups, enabling them to advance in the industry via his Young and the Restless program. For his efforts, Collins is featured in an exhibit in Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and has even had a documentary made about his turbulent life, The Glamour & the Squalor, which premiered at SIFF in 2015. He currently works at KEXP.