Hall-of-Fame country DJ Bill Mack dies of COVID-19 at age 88

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Longtime country music disc jockey Bill Mack, whose “Blue” became a hit for LeAnn Rimes and won a 1996 Grammy Award for Country Music Song of the Year, died Friday at age 88, his son said.

In a Facebook message, Mack’s son Billy Mack Smith said his father died Friday of COVID-19 but had underlying health conditions.

Mack’s “Midnight Cowboy Trucking Show” overnight program on clear channel WBAP-AM in Fort Worth kept truckers entertained for decades and earned him a place in the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame.

Mack later hosted programs on satellite radio and the syndicated “Country Crossroads. He also wrote “Drinking Champagne,” a song covered by George Strait, Dean Martin and Willie Nelson.