Billy Parker, one of the most influential voices in country music radio, died Monday at the age of 88.
The Hall of Fame country music disc jockey, who for decades shaped the conversation surrounding the genre with his work at KVOO in Tulsa, Okla., passed away at the hospital Monday, according to local outlet News on 6. His cause of death has not been reported.
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Parker was born in Tuskegee, Okla., and first found his love for the radio as a teen in McAlester, Okla., playing and singing regularly on KOTV, Channel 6, by the time he was 18.
Parker would continue performing at the station and working as a disc jockey until 1968, when he was chosen by Ernest Tubb to replace Cal Smith as the frontman for the Texas Troubadours, and Parker would go on to record numerous singles for Decca Records produced by Nashville legend Owen Bradley.
In 1971, Parker and his wife, Jerri, decided to move to Tulsa after tiring of life on the road, and it was then that the radio personality really found his calling in the national country music radio realm with KVOO.
After creating one of the first all-night truckers’ radio shows in the country, Billy Parker’s Big Rigger Show, Parker went on to be named Disc Jockey of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1974, taking home the same award from the Academy of Country Music four times between 1975 and 1984.
In 1992, Parker was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame, and in 1995, he was presented with the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
During his time with KVOO, Parker also saw success in his music career, as 23 of his singles made Billboard’s Hot Country chart, including his hits “Lord, If I Make It to Heaven” and “Thanks A Lot.”
“It was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, I never fail to appreciate it, I love the business and the people in it,” Parker once said of his career, as per News on 6.
Memorial services for Parker are being held on Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church-Tulsa. More information is listed here.
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