Former ‘KQRS Morning Show’ prankster Lee Siegfried, aka Crazy Cabbie, dies at 55

Radio personality Lee Siegfried, who orchestrated one of the most notorious on-air pranks in Twin Cities history, died last Saturday. Siegfried, known to listeners as Crazy Cabbie, had been suffering from an autoimmune disease the past four years, according to friends. Recent pictures showed him in a wheelchair. He was 55.

Siegfried, who formerly went by Lee Mroszak, first became known to local listeners as a contributor to “The Andy Savage Show” on 93.7-FM, the Edge. He moved to the “KQRS Morning Show” in 1997 to help host Tom Barnard take on Howard Stern during his syndicated show’s short-lived attempt to make a serious dent in the Twin Cities market.

Siegfried was fired later that year for pretending to knock on Brett Favre’s hotel door while the Packers were in town and discovering a woman who wasn’t his wife. The station quickly apologized for the made-up stunt.

“He was willing to do just about anything to make sure he contributed, which I admired. But he went a little too far,” Barnard said Friday. “I still don’t understand why he did that and how he thought he would get away with it.”

Stern started bringing Siegfried on his own show out of New York, where he participated in a number of high-profile stunts, including a boxing match against sidekick Stuttering John Melendez. In 2004, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and wound up spending more than a year in jail.

News of his death was shared on Facebook by former Twin Cities DJ Cane Peterson, who currently works at 107.1 FM, the Boss, in New Jersey.

“Nobody did radio better than Cabbie and everyone that knew him loved him,” posted Peterson who, like Siegfried, was raised in Minnesota. “He had a razor-sharp wit, an insatiable lust of life and, most important, he had a heart of gold.”

Peterson and Siegfried co-hosted “The Cane and Cabbie Show” that aired from 1998 to 2004 on 92.3 FM, K-Rock, the former flagship station for Stern’s program.

“It bugs me that people only think of him as Wack Packer or Howard guest,” Peterson said in a text Friday. “I get it, but he had his own show and he was so much more than Howard’s play thing.”

Barnard had not been in touch with his former colleague in recent years, but has fond memories of their time together.

“He was a really great guy and always nice to me,” said Barnard, who left KQRS in 2022 and currently hosts a podcast, “The Tom Barnard Show.” “But there was always a sadness to him. It was hard to get around that.”

Siegfried was residing in Raleigh, N.C., when he died. Peterson said “his body just gave out.” He is survived by his fiancée, Lexi Lang. Details of other family members were not available. According to a post at digitalmemorial.com, a celebration of life will be held at a future date.