Beloved Country music broadcaster and longtime countdown show host BOB KINGSLEY died today (10/17) at his home in WEATHERFORD, TX at the age of 80. He was being treated for bladder cancer, which he had revealed earlier this month (NET NEWS 10/9).
KINGSLEY enjoyed a broadcasting career that spanned six decades. He became a member of 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.
While in the AIR FORCE, KINGSLEY got his start in radio working as an announcer for ARMED FORCES RADIO. His career included stops at LOS ANGELES stations KFOX, KGBS, KFI, and KLAC, and he served as the voice of DRAKE-CHENAULT's "Great American Country" format.
He took over as host of the syndicated “American Country Countdown” in 1978 after four years as the show’s producer. Under KINGSLEY’s watch, the show was named Network/Syndicated Country Program of the Year at the BILLBOARD Radio Awards for 16 consecutive years. In 2006, he launched “BOB KINGSLEY’s Country Top 40," which is syndicated globally to more than 320 stations by his own KCCS PRODUCTIONS and distributed by WESTWOOD ONE.
Among his many honors, KINGSLEY received the ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC’s (ACM) Major Market On-Air Personality of the Year Award in 1966 and 1967 and was named the COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION’s (CMA) National Broadcast Personality of the Year in 2001 and 2003. He was chosen as the recipient of the 2012 President’s Award by COUNTRY RADIO BROADCASTERS (CRB). In 2017, he received the MAE BOREN AXTON Service Award in recognition of his dedication and service to the ACM, on whose board he served for decades. And he was the recipient of the WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT’s TONY SNOW Award for the significant difference he made in the lives of injured servicemen and women.
Survivors include his wife of 30 years and business partner, NAN KINGSLEY.
A celebration of his life will be held in NASHVILLE on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 1p (CT) 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.
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