Remembering Opry announcer Bill Cody in his own words

Flashback: Cody fell in love with radio as a child in Kentucky, when his preacher father had his sermons broadcast on a local station. Cody went with his father and was hypnotized by the DJ behind the glass.

• He made his first appearance as a radio host on his hometown station at 12 years old.
• "That was the auspicious beginning to my radio career, and I just never looked back," he told Main Street Media. "My instrument was radio, and I could not get enough."

In his own words: Working at WSM became his ultimate career goal early on, when his dad would tell him stories about the Opry icons appearing on the Nashville radio station.

• "It was a romance for me, because I wanted to go where those people were," Cody said in an Opry profile in 2019. "I wasn't quite sure where that was, but I just knew it had to be the coolest place."

Cody went on to work at WSM for more than 30 years, where he hosted the morning show. He became a fixture during Opry shows, where he was a regular host and sparring partner for many of the legends he heard about in childhood.

• "Bill Cody lived out his dreams on the Opry stage," Opry executive producer Dan Rogers said in a statement. "More times than I could count, he and I would look at each other as if to say, 'Can you believe we get to do this?'"
• The Grand Ole Opry will dedicate its Saturday night show to Cody.