Bill Cody, one of the nation’s most revered country radio personalities from his decades-long roles as an announcer for the Grand Ole Opry and WSM morning show host, died Tuesday in Nashville. He was 67.
In recent days, much of Nashville’s country music community had sent out calls for prayer on behalf of Cody, after his daughter said in late May that he was in critical condition and could only survive if he received heart and kidney transplants. In sharing news of his passing Tuesday night, David wrote on Facebook, “We will never be able to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and the sincere prayers over the last few weeks. We know God heard them and we feel a deep peace that one day we will understand why God chose to still take him.”
Cody had been on the air with the station that airs the Opry, WSM-AM, since 1994 (apart from a brief detour to sister station WSM-FM in the late ’90s), He hosted the popular morning show “Coffee, Country & Cody,” which few country stars worth their salt had not made appearances on over the last 32 years.
He was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 2008. Cody also received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2024, and he will be posthumously inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame later this year.
