WKLU was signed on the air by Bruce Quinn (a self-proclaimed radio pirate)[citation needed] in 1992 as WQFE, utilizing an approximately 300' tower, located in Hendricks County.
In September 1994, WQFE aired an oldies format. In 1999, the call letters were changed to WKLU, and the format evolved to a loose variant of classic rock - specializing in songs that most commercial radio stations didn't play, including songs from "jam bands." In 2004 the Quinns sold the station to a Miami radio entrepreneur, Russ Oasis, who moved the tower to its current location and reformatted the station to a more commercially viable classic hits format. At midnight on December 4, 2007, WKLU flipped to an oldies format based on the hits of the 60s and 70s.