Longtime Grand Ole Opry Announcer Eddie Stubbs Is Retiring

Eddie Stubbs, a longtime presence at the Grand Ole Opry, is retiring. The radio announcer will sign off for good at the end of July.

A 58-year-old Maryland native with a background in radio, Stubbs first arrived in Nashville on March 21, 1995, as a fiddle player with Kitty Wells and her husband, Johnnie Wright. He was hired as a part-time DJ at WSM-AM, the Nashville-area radio station that carries the Grand Ole Opry radio show, one week later; a little over a week after that, he auditioned for the role of Opry announcer.

Stubbs is the third-longest tenured announcer in the history of the Grand Ole Opry, the organization reports. He's also been hosting WSM-AM's 7PM-midnight shift since July 8, 1996 — the longest of any DJ in that timeslot.

"I have had an extremely blessed 25 years at WSM, and as the third-longest tenured announcer in the Grand Ole Opry’s history. The experiences and friendships have allowed me to live a lot of dreams," Stubbs says in a press release. "Needless to say, I will be forever grateful.”

In addition to his announcer roles, Stubbs has spent six seasons as The Marty Stuart Show's on-camera announcer. He is a CMA Award winner, the 2002 Large Market Broadcast Personality of the Year, and a 2012 Country Radio Hall of Fame inductee.

Stubbs' final day on air will be July 29, 2020.

10 Things to Know About the Grand Ole Opry: