NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you've been to anything celebrating country music, there's a very good chance you've heard that voice. Bill Cody.
His friends in music were many, including husband-and-wife, singer/songwriters T.G. Sheppard and Kelly Lang.
"It didn't feel like you were being interviewed," Lang said of being on Cody's shows. "It felt like you were just having a conversation with a friend who happened to know a lot about you."
It was 1994 in Nashville when Cody joined WSM. The 90s had many big names in country radio.
"Radio has always been super competitive, but it was even more so back then," Sheppard nodded.
"They became stars themselves!" Lang added.
"They did. They became radio stars."
"I like to think our show is personality-driven, but you're going to hear more music," Cody told NewsChannel 5 in a 1999 interview.
"You knew you were in the presence of greatness," Lang said.
Many in Nashville felt comfortable with Cody and would tell him stories.
"He was a historian, first of all, and so he knew everything about every artist," Sheppard said.
NewsChannel 5 would often go to Cody for some kind words when we lost one of the greats. This is what he said when George Jones died:
"George Jones had influences too," Cody said in an archive interview. "Listening to the Opry as a little boy, crawling up in the bed with his momma and daddy, he'd say, 'If I go to sleep, wake me up if Roy Acuff comes on.' That's what I'll remember most are those very personal stories that resonated with me because I'm still part of that radio station's history and the Grand Ole Opry's history."
Oh, and there was the Opry. He was a frequent host, and at a 2023 Opry Goes Pink event, he introduced Lang to the stage for her solo Opry debut.
"It felt very validating to have THE Bill Cody introduce me," Lang said.
You look out at the Music City Walk of Fame, and you see so many names Cody interviewed. Charlie Daniels was his first in-studio guest at WSM. It only makes sense the day would come Cody's name would be on the walk.
"Thank you for making everything mean something in my life," Cody told a crowd in 2024 as he received his star on the Music City Walk of Fame.
Bill Cody died at 67 after living with kidney and heart failure.
Sheppard's story with Cody actually goes back far before those first days at WSM. He did interviews with Cody at radio stations across the country starting about 45 years ago.
"We always made fun every time we were together, we were each other's oldest and longest friend!" he said.
Just as Cody always knew the right thing to say when we lost one of the greats, Sheppard and Lang have just the right thing to say now.
"He had a gift about him that made everybody feel great," Lang said.
"The only comfort that I have is that I know I will see him again and hear that great voice, because I do know where he went," Sheppard added.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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