Retired Country Music Radio DJ Eric ‘Bubba Bo’ Boulanger Enters Hospice Care

Retired country music radio DJ Eric “Bubba Bo” Boulanger has entered hospice care after being diagnosed with cancer. On Tuesday, NPR affiliate WVXU reported that the retired DJ was placed in hospice care around the end of December. He has been fighting glioblastoma, a very aggressive form of brain cancer, which has required surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments.

Boulanger was a staple of Greater Cincinnati’s radio industry for four decades. In March 2021, he retired from Eagle Country 99.3, where he’d been doing radio for more than 15 years. He then began a new show, WLW-AM American Truckers’ Network, from a home studio. The fan-favorite DJ had been planning to spend the winter in Florida, after ending his new show in early 2022, however, he fell ill and had to be rushed into medical care. “He was healthy as an ox,” said Boulanger’s longtime friend and former traffic reporter Mary Kuzan-McConnell. “It was all very sudden. It was really a shock. It’s so sad.” She added, “As soon as he was diagnosed, he was told that his chances of living for more than a year were slim to none.”

Sad news. Eric 'Bubba Bo' Boulanger in hospice. Long-time country music radio & WLW-AM's weekend truckers show host had retired last year. @917wvxu https://t.co/kUcxpGXFqy

— John Kiesewetter (@TVKiese) January 24, 2023

Back in 2021, while discussing his career through the lens of deciding to retire, Boulanger said on his Eagle Country morning show, “I’ve been running for 40 years plus in this business and I’ve gotten to do a lot of cool things and meet a lot of cool people and I’ve made pretty good money as money goes in this business anymore, but it’s time to ease up some and enjoy life.”

“I just really enjoy always talking to people,” he later added. “I enjoy the ones that do call in somewhat regularly with a traffic report or a family update or like that. It is like a little family, a little community that we developed. Will I miss getting up at 2:30 in the morning, no. Will I missing driving 30 or 35 minutes in the pitch dark in the middle of the night, no. I’ve been doing that for 40 years. I’ve done it for all but about 18 months of my career and I’m done.”

Boulanger later concluded, “I started working in radio at 21, and from there its been the radio life no doubt about it but I don’t regret it a damn bit. I had a lot of fun. I got to do a lot of cool things and go a lot of cool places, but it’s time to bring it to an end.”