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Bobby Bones reflected on some of the most unforgettable moments throughout his career as a radio and TV personality and podcast host.
Bobby was a 17-year-old in Hot Springs, Arkansas the first time he cracked the mic, he remembered in an interview shared in honor of National Radio Day on Wednesday (August 20). The day aims to spotlight the impact radio has had on society and culture historically and today. Bobby said the program director he worked with as a teen in Arkansas gave him the on-air name “Bobby Bones,” and “I was so nervous. …I said my real name, not my radio name.”
The Radio Hall of Fame member — the youngest person ever to be inducted in 2017 — went on to become a staple for many Bobby Bones Show listeners. Bobby kickstarted his own show in the early 2000s in Austin, Texas, and moved in 2012 to Nashville, Tennessee, broadcasting nationally and talking with some of country music’s most iconic artists (plus a few “unexpected” guests, like John Mayer and Chris Stapleton before he launched his career as an artist). Bobby said he often met listeners of his show during meet-and-greets on his standup tours, which offered “the greatest window into the lives of our listeners.”
Bobby reminisced on the lows and highs of his career in radio. He admitted, for example, that his toughest on-air moment was the Route 91 Harvest Festival tragedy in 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bobby said he’d played the festival the night prior, and although he’d returned home by the time the tragedy occurred, “a lot of my friends were there that night. …It was super emotional. Also, but, you know, the awesome part of that, too, is being able to change lives in really wonderful ways. Like, we’ve built homes for members of the military. And so, you know, it kind of hits the scale. Tragedies are always the toughest, but being able to do things for people are always some of the best.
“I think one of the great radio traditions is giving back. The hosts, the stations, I think it’s a big part of the community in general, whatever that community is,” he said later, noting, for example, previous work with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. “So, I think the tradition of giving back, I hope that doesn’t end on radio.”
Bobby said he’s “developed some really rich friendships” throughout his 20+ years in the iHeartRadio family. Watch him share his stories here: