RIP Bob Kingsley! THE voice of country music, died on Thursday, October 17, 2019, at his home in Weatherford, Texas while receiving treatment for cancer. He was 80.
Millions around the country heard his voice beginning in 1978 when he took over as host of American Country Countdown after four years as the show’s producer. Bob received many of broadcasting’s top honors and was named to the Country Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2016. He is the namesake and was the first recipient of the Bob Kingsley Living Legend Award, presented each year since 2014 at the Grand Ole Opry House and benefitting the Opry Trust Fund.
Bob’s began his love affair with radio and music when polio kept him in bed and in near isolation for a year when he was a kid. He says, “I would listen to the radio and certain shows became really important to me. It was complete escapism and entertainment. I didn’t realize the imprint it was making, but it obviously stayed with me.”
Bob had many charitable interests that included work for Disabled American Veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Wounded Warrior Project, Careity Foundation, and the Palliative Unit of Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, among others.
He lived and worked with his wife of 30 years, Nan, on their Bluestem Ranch in Weatherford, Texas.
A celebration of Bob’s life will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, November 14, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. at The CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Kingsley’s name to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum or the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund.
