{"id":1748,"date":"2026-06-10T04:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:36:19","slug":"bill-cody-grand-ole-opry-announcer-and-revered-wsm-country-radio-personality-dies-at-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1748","title":{"rendered":"Bill Cody, Grand Ole Opry Announcer and Revered WSM Country Radio Personality, Dies at 67"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tBill Cody, one of the nation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn recent days, much of Nashville\u2019s 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, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCody 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 \u201990s), He hosted the popular morning show \u201cCoffee, Country & Cody,\u201d which few country stars worth their salt had not made appearances on over the last 32 years.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA number of country stars issued statements saluting Cody soon after word of his death got out.<\/p>\n

\n\tSaid Garth Brooks, \u201cThere might be someone somewhere in the world who loved country music as much, but nobody loved country music more than Bill Cody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWrote Dierks Bentley: \u201cCountry music has lost one of its pillars. Bill was just as important to the fabric of our music and city as any artist, songwriter or musician. No one loved country music, its history and its characters more than Bill Cody. Prayers to his family and Charlie and Kelly and everyone that knew and loved him at WSM and the Opry.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tSaid Carly Pearce, \u201cBill Cody devoted his life to telling the story of country music. With a legacy spanning decades, he will be marked as one of the greatest of all time. For me, he was so much more than that. He was my friend. He will be so very missed on this side of heaven, but I rejoice knowing he is with our Heavenly Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe was also remembered in a statement from Patrick Moore, CEO of Opry Entertainment. \u201cEveryone at the Grand Ole Opry, in country music, in Nashville \u2014 and across the country \u2014 will remember Bill for his profound gravitas, his incredible voice, and his positive and infectious enthusiasm for country music,\u201d Moore said. \u201cFor those of us who were lucky enough to work with Bill as a colleague, he brightened every single day and changed our lives for the better. Bill will be sorely missed. Rest in Peace, Trent from Gravel Switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCody began his radio career at age 17 when he answered a helf-wanted notice for Lexington, Kentucky station WVLK. The station asked that he drop his real name, Trent Clutts, and he adopted the nom de plume of Bill Cody in honor of a childhood hero, \u201cBuffalo Bill\u201d Cody.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe developed his love for radio as the son of a Southern Baptist minister in Lebanon, Kentucky who recorded his weekly sermons every Sunday morning and dropped off a cassette tape at a local station to be broadcast in the afternoon. \u201cCody, at 12 years old, found the visits to the radio station so fascinating that his father arranged for him to spend time there occasionally, seeing the magic of broadcasting up close,\u201d his official obituary said.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the Opry, Cody hosted \u201cOpry Country Classics\u201d as well as regular weekend editions of the Opry. Other hosting credits included \u201cMaster Series\u201d\u00a0for GAC,\u00a0\u201cTennessee\u2019s Wild Side\u201d\u00a0for public television, and the syndicated radio shows\u00a0\u201cClassic Country Weekend With Bill Cody\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cPure American Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSaturday night\u2019s live broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry will be dedicated to Cody. WSM said it will honor its anchor personality in days to come with \u201ca special marathon of unforgettable moments from \u2018Coffee, Country & Cody,\u2019 celebrating a legacy that will forever be part of our station and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Summer House\u2019 Season 10 Reunion Parts 1 & 2 Draw Largest Audience in Show\u2019s History<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Cody, a Country Radio Hall of Famer who hosted the Grand Ole Opry along with a decades-running morning show on WSM radio, has died at 67.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1544],"class_list":["post-1748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-grand-ole-opry"],"yoast_head":"\nBill Cody, Grand Ole Opry Announcer and Revered WSM Country Radio Personality, Dies at 67 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=1748\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bill Cody, Grand Ole Opry Announcer and Revered WSM Country Radio Personality, Dies at 67 - 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