WSM Radio Host Bill Cody Dies at 67

Bill Cody, the longtime WSM radio host and Grand Ole Opry announcer whose warm, familiar voice was a morning staple for country music fans for more than three decades, died on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Nashville. He was 67. His death followed a weeks-long battle with heart and kidney failure.

WSM Radio confirmed Cody's death in a social media post, describing him as a singular presence who created a gathering place rooted in his deep love for country music. His daughter, Hannah Davis, had shared in late May that he was in intensive care and that doctors had determined a double transplant of his heart and kidneys was his only chance for survival. She announced his passing on Tuesday, writing that he died peacefully surrounded by family.

Cody, born Trent Clutts on December 16, 1958, in Huntsville, Alabama, began his radio career at age 17 after answering a help-wanted notice for a night deejay position at WVLK in Lexington, Kentucky. The program director asked him to change his name, leading him to adopt the moniker Bill Cody in honor of his childhood hero, the showman Buffalo Bill Cody. His fascination with broadcasting started even earlier, as a boy accompanying his father, a...