On January 8, 1986, the station flipped to a "Hard Rock/Heavy Metal music" format, the first of its kind on a commercial station in the United States. Several air staff members of the heavy metal station went on to the original satellite-distributed, nationally syndicated "Z Rock" format the following September. While much of KNAC's core-base of artists were considered mainstream, the station played enough "cutting edge" artists of the day and acquired a legend that survived long beyond its demise in spring 1995. The station inspired tribute pages and a radio station on the Internet. However, revenues were not what management had hoped for.