The station's studios and offices are co-located with formerly co-owned KPIX-TV on Battery Street in downtown San Francisco, and its transmitter is off Wolfback Ridge Road on Mount Beacon in the Marin Headlands near Sausalito, California.

[2] After changing its call letters to KGSF in 1949, the station was sold in 1952 to the Electronic Service Corporation and managed by Stephen Cisler, who also owned KEAR (1550 AM) in San Mateo, and renamed KXKX.

Family Radio acquired KEAR in 1959 and aired its Christian religious programming on the frequency for nearly 20 years.

For a time, 97K aired the syndicated American Top 40, a countdown show starring Casey Kasem.

KRQR's harder approach helped start a long run as a dominant rock station.

[4] However, this failed to turn around ratings; at 3 p.m. on June 5, 1996, KRQR flipped to KLLC, "Alice 97.3," with a Modern AC format.

After a several month search for a replacement for Vinnie, the station selected Mike Nelson (also known as "The DJ with No Name," to become the co-host of the renamed "Sarah and No-Name Show.

The station sponsors three seasonal concerts each year: the free "Summerthing" show in June and the "Now and Zen Fest" in September, both in Golden Gate Park, and "Alice in Winterland" in December.

Up until 2009 recordings from the concerts and other live appearances on the station were collected into the annual "This is Alice Music" CD, which was sold to raise funds donated to Breast cancer research and treatment charities.