SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Seattle radio icon Bob Rivers has died at the age of 68.
His wife Lisa confirmed to the Seattle Times that Rivers died on Tuesday, March 11 from complications of esophageal cancer.
The radio host who was best known for his “Twisted Tunes” parody songs entertained rock radio listeners in Seattle for a quarter century.
Brad Cash of the Brad and John Morning Show on Bellingham’s 92.9 KISM got his start in radio on The Bob Rivers Show.
He says Rivers had a talent for creating “community” on the radio.
“He didn’t always have to have the funny joke, or he didn’t always have to have the punchline,” Cash said. “He knew that he had people around him that could provide those things and so, whether it was Spike or it was Downtown Joe or something that an intern or a listener or somebody in the hallway had said, he would bring them in and let them be the star. Get the laugh.”
Rivers started his radio career as a teenager by building his own pirate radio station in Connecticut. He became a radio professional at age 16 and honed his craft on radio stations on the east coast before moving to Seattle. His show was a mainstay on rock station KISW through the 1990’s.
He later moved to classic rock KZOK and then KJR until he retired in 2014.
Rivers stayed active and hosted a podcast despite being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus three years ago.
