Bobby Bones

Early life and education

Bones was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on April 2, 1980, and raised in the small community of Mountain Pine, Arkansas. His mother became pregnant with him at age 15, when his father was 17. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother; his biological father left the family when Bones was five.

His mother died in 2014 at age 49 after battling addiction problems. He grew up poor and often viewed radio as a way of escaping poverty. Bones began dreaming of a radio career around age 5 and started at age 17 at the campus station of Henderson State University, KSWH-FM "The Pulse." He graduated with a B.A. in Radio/Television from Henderson in 2002.

Career

While still in college, Bones went to work as a station hand at KLAZ in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but was put on the air within a few days. A manager gave him the choice of going on the air as Bobby Z or Bobby Bones; he chose the latter. His first full-time radio contract paid him $17,000. In 2002, Bones was hired by Q100/KQAR in Little Rock, Arkansas, which led to his hosting The Bobby Bones Show on KHFI-FM in Austin, Texas.

Austin

According to The Washington Post, Bones doesn't have the classic booming radio DJ voice, and he does not refer to himself as a DJ. In Austin, he met future co-hosts Lunchbox (in a bar) and Amy (in a Culver's); he believed in Amy and put her on the air immediately. Over ten years, the show built its audience into the top-rated morning show in Austin and was syndicated in a few regional markets. In 2012, Clear Channel moved Bones and his show from Austin to Nashville, switching to a country music format and taking over the slot hosted by longtime DJ Gerry House.

Syndication

Bones now broadcasts from the WSIX-FM studios in Nashville on weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. CT. His co-host is Amy, and features Producer Eddie, Lunchbox, Raymundo, Mike D., Abby, and Scuba Steve. In February 2013, The Bobby Bones Show was nationally syndicated through iHeart Media-owned Premiere Networks, now heard on more than 150 radio stations in the U.S., Canada, and UK, with an estimated audience of nearly 9.2 million listeners a week.

Accidental trigger of Emergency Alert System

Bones also hosts the weekly "Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones," carried on over 100 radio stations nationwide. In October 2014, Bones accidentally triggered the Emergency Alert System by playing EAS tones during an on-air rant; in May 2015, iHeartMedia paid a $1 million FCC fine due to the incident.

Other media

Bones appeared in the 2009 feature film Bandslam with Vanessa Hudgens. He has also appeared on the ABC drama Nashville and has been a guest host with Kelly Ripa on Live! with Regis and Kelly. In 2012, Bones was part of the Fox Sports Radio lineup, hosting the weekend sports talk program Roddick and Bones with tennis star Andy Roddick. He hosts the podcast "The Bobbycast" and launched his own podcast network, the Nashville Podcast Network.

On May 17, 2016, he released his first book, Bare Bones, I'm Not Lonely If You're Reading This Book. In 2018, Bones was a guest mentor for season sixteen of American Idol; on November 6, 2018, it was announced he would become a full-time mentor for the series beginning in season seventeen. During an episode which aired April 8, 2019, Bones served as guest host. In June 2019, Bones filmed an episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls in Norway, which aired on January 14, 2020.

He was a judge of Topgolf's original series Who Will Rock You. He signed an overall deal with BBC Studios.

Breaking Bobby Bones, on the National Geographic Channel, began airing in 2021. On December 31, 2021, Bones co-hosted New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash on CBS. In 2022, Bones hosted the USA Network competition series Snake in the Grass.

In September 2018, Bones was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on the 27th season of Dancing with the Stars, paired with professional dancer Sharna Burgess. Despite the second lowest scores for a couple in the final 4, they made it to the finals and won the competition.

Personal life

On September 28, 2013, Bones and his crew were part of a team that set the Guinness World Record "Most hunger relief meals packaged in one hour (team)." On August 5, 2015, Bones filed an "all purpose" trademark application with the USPTO for the rights to the phrase "Make America Great Again." Two days later, on August 7, Bones tweeted, "hey @realDonaldTrump, if you donate 100k to @stjude, I will give you your clothing trademark back. thanks! – Bobby." Bones later tweeted an image on October 29 of a check from The Trump Organization for an undisclosed amount, stating it would go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and that Trump could "have [his] slogan back." On January 3, 2017, Bones announced he was considering a run for governor of Arkansas in the 2018 election; on March 14, 2017, he announced he was not running. In July 2021, Bones married Caitlin Parker.

Did You Know?

• Bones filed a trademark for the phrase "Make America Great Again" in 2015 and traded it back to Donald Trump for a donation to St. Jude.
• He became the youngest ever inductee into the National Radio Hall of Fame on November 2, 2017.