However, as of August 17, 1959, station management barred Ingle from making any further broadcasts, on the grounds that he was carrying on "an attack on many forms of organized religion, and a denunciation of laymen and ministers holding religious beliefs other than which you have".

Also known as "Wonderful Willie", WLLE played James Brown, Little Richard, The O'Jays, and Earth Wind & Fire,[12] and it could be heard as far away as Walkertown and Wallace-Rose Hill.

[13] Its DJs included Oscar "Daddy O on the Radio" Alexander, Sweet Bob Rogers, Chester "CD" Davis, J. Willie Moore, Big Bill Haywood, Prince Ike Behind the Mike, Jimmy Johnson of JJ's House Party, and Brother James Thomas.

He is credited with helping Raleigh get through difficult times during integration of the schools and the death of Martin Luther King Jr.[13] His style came from Douglas "Jocko" Henderson of Philadelphia and Durham's Dr. Jive of WSRC.

[16] In 1977 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoked WLLE's license, after an investigation begun in 1973 determined that the station had engaged in improper billing practices.

[17] The station was allowed to continue broadcasting while it appealed this ruling, and the legal proceedings did not end until October 1979, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the license revocation.

[18] However, a short time later the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh formed Faith Communications, Inc., which was granted a temporary "Interim Operation" authorization to take over the station, with most programming unchanged.

[19] In 1981 the FCC conducted competitive hearing between three applicants to acquire the station, and selected Special Markets Media, Inc., owned by Prentice J. Monroe (75%) and her husband Henry (25%),[20] who continued its well-known R&B format.

[22] Two years later, the station was picked up by Curtis Media and the call letters were changed once again to WDTF, continuing on with the religious talk format and adding inspirational music to the mix.

[26] At that time, the station began to air an all-comedy format under the moniker "Funny 570", and its call letters were changed to WFNL, which stood for "We're Fun N Laughs".

On June 4, 2019, WQDR flipped to hot adult contemporary, branded as "Star 92.9" (in reference to FM translator W225DF that was acquired the previous month, and began simulcasting the new format upon launch).