Entertainment

Grand Ole Opry to Host Public Funeral for Beloved Country Music Figure

Country music fans will have an opportunity to say goodbye to one of the genre's most beloved voices.

The Grand Ole Opry House announced Thursday that it will host public visitation and funeral services for longtime WSM radio personality and Grand Ole Opry announcer Bill Cody on Monday, June 15.

According to a press release from WSM, visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CT, followed by a funeral service at 2 p.m. CT in the Grand Ole Opry House auditorium. Family, friends, colleagues and fans are all invited to attend.

Related: Trisha Yearwood Gives Emotional Grand Ole Opry Tribute to Bill Cody (Exclusive)

The Grand Ole Opry and WSM Radio will also honor Cody with special programming throughout the day. The funeral service will be broadcast live on WSM Radio 650 AM and streamed on WSM's Facebook page, allowing listeners around the world to participate in remembering the longtime broadcaster.

Cody, whose given name was Trent Barry Clutts, died June 9 at age 67.

For more than three decades, he was one of the most recognizable voices in country music, serving as host of WSM's flagship morning show, Coffee, Country & Cody, while also becoming a beloved announcer and host at the Grand Ole Opry.

His official obituary reveals that Cody's love of radio began as a child in Lebanon, Kentucky, where he accompanied his father to a local radio station that aired the minister's weekly sermons.

Related: Grand Ole Opry Makes Major Broadcast Announcement

"I could see Frank Kemp with those headphones on," Cody once recalled. "He was pushing buttons, and the records would spin, and that red light would come on."

That fascination eventually became a career that took him to radio stations in Kentucky, Florida and Texas before his dream job arrived in 1994.

"Well, in April of 1994 that phone call came," his obituary states. "His dream since childhood had come true."

Over the next 32 years, Cody became one of country music's most respected broadcasters. He was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 2008, received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2024 and will be inducted posthumously into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.

Related: Grand Ole Opry Announces Star-Studded ‘Summer of the Century' Celebration

But according to his family, his proudest accomplishments happened away from the microphone.

"Trent was more than just a radio and television personality," the obituary states. "His biggest accomplishments were not made on a stage in the public eye. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend."

Following the service at the Opry House, Cody will be laid to rest at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery in Cross Plains, Tennessee.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorial donations be made to Hope Center Ministries in Portland, Tennessee.

Related: Beloved Voice of Country Music Dies at 67

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 7:41 AM.

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