Ralph Emery Dies: Country Music DJ & TV Host Was 88
16.01.2022 - 03:51
/ deadline.com
Ralph Emery, the country music disc jockey and television host who came to prominence on Nashville’s WSM, died on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was 88.
Among those paying tribute to Emery today was singer-songwriter Don McLean. “Ralph Emery was my friend. I did his show many times and he was kind enough to send me a Christmas card every year. He had that special country music knowledge and that voice,” McLean said in a statement provided by the Country Music Hall of Fame. “Ralph was to country music what Mel Allen was to the Yankees.”
Born on March 10, 1933 in McEwen, Tennessee, Emery was an inductee of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the National Radio Hall of Fame who hosted syndicated music programs throughout his career including Pop! Goes The Country, Nashville Now, Ralph Emery Live and Ralph Emery’s Memories, among others.
He studied in broadcasting school under the legendary Nashville radio personality John R (born John Richbourg) and found his first broadcasting job at Paris, Tennessee’s WTPR. Later on, he would be tapped for roles at stations including WNAH, WAGG, WLCS, WMAK and WSIX, finding at the latter his first full-time radio job, his first affiliation with a network (ABC) and his first experience in television, as a wrestling announcer for WSIX-TV.
Emery served as WSM’s all-night disc jockey from 1957 to 1972, there hosting live performances by, and interviews with country music notables including Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Marty Robbins.
Plans for a memorial have not yet been disclosed.
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