FORT WORTH, Texas — After six decades, the country music airwaves seem a little less vibrant without the deep voice of Bob Kingsley.
The National Radio Hall of Fame radio host died Thursday after a battle with bladder cancer. He was 80 years old.
Kingsley got his first taste of the airwaves while serving as an airman in Iceland. He made a name for himself in Los Angeles but moved to Weatherford in the mid 90s.
“It’s been joyous,” Kingsley told WFAA in an interview April, 2018. “I love Texas. I love Weatherford. I love everything about it.”
WFAA revisited the archived interview Friday. What Kingsley said about all the decades behind the microphone had never been seen before.
“I have to be the luckiest guy in the world to be this fortunate and this blessed to still be doing what I love doing,” Kingsley said.
“Everybody’s going to miss him,” said Marty Travis, general manager of Billy Bob's Texas. “Everybody’s going to miss his voice.”
Kingsley would often stop in to listen to country music the way it’s meant to be heard…under the neon lights.
“When the reality hit that he had passed, I thought, 'Gosh I wish I’d shook his hand one more time,'” Travis said.
Kingsley made a cameo in the music video for the song “Burnout,” which the band Midland shot inside Billy Bob's Texas.
“We lost a good one,” Travis said.
In the archived interview, Kingsley opened up about his lifelong passion.
“I love country music,” Kingsley said. “I love everything about it.”
More than just meeting the artists, more than all the awards, he loved sitting down behind the microphone, week after week, year after year, with listeners across the country.
“Everybody is a friend,” Kinglsey said. “I start talking to them and four hours flies by like that and it’s great. It’s just great.