After 33 years of doing morning radio, Bob Rivers on August 8, 2014 decided to step away and discontinue The Bob Rivers Morning Show, exiting KJR-FM 95.7. It was his third Seattle radio home, after striking a chord in Baltimore following six years at influential Rocker WAAF-FM in Worcester, Mass.
Now, many radio industry veterans are expressing surprise and shock, as Rivers has died at the age of 68. News of Rivers’ passing was first reported by RAMP: Radio and Music Pros, citing Rivers’ longtime agent, Paul Anderson.
Rivers had suffered from terminal cancer, as disclosed in a January 15, 2025 article in the Seattle Times.
Widely known for his song parodies and wake-up show comedic style, Rivers arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 1989 by taking a job at KISW-FM, a Rock station. There, his “Twisted Radio” was a hit, but by 2000 a contractual dispute led to the program’s end at the station. After one year of sitting out a non-compete agreement, Rivers resurfaced at CBS Radio’s Classic Rock KZOK-FM in Seattle. He would be there through September 30, 2010, and in April 2011 would land at his third and final Seattle radio station, KJR-FM.
Rivers first gained national attention in the early 1990s at WAAF, a bangin’ rock-and-roll station that actively competed in Boston and could be heard well west into the Berkshires. In Spring 1988, this success led Rivers to join WIYY “98 Rock” in Baltimore, spending one year there while further building a national name for himself and co-host Spike O’Neill, who he found at a local car dealership.
Rivers’ first work in radio came in New Haven, at Top 40 WAVZ-AM. Other early stops included WCCC-FM, a Rocker in Hartford. Rivers was born in Honolulu. In January, he shared with the Seattle Times about how he gained widespread attention for the first time. It was a stunt that saw him broadcast continuously through a historic 20+-game losing streak by the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, in 1988.
After leaving KJR-FM, Rivers and his wife, Lisa, relocated to Vermont. In 2019, he entered the world of podcasting. By 2022, difficulty swallowing led to a diagnosis of esophageal cancer. The Rivers relocated again, this time to Las Vegas. It proved to be somewhat lucky, as Bob Rivers was given a 50/50 chance of surviving past 2023.
Most recently, Rivers had been living in New Hampshire, according to RAMP.
Six days ago, Rivers posted the following message to The Bob Rivers Show‘s Facebook page:
By that measure, I’ve been very lucky.
Bob was one in a million. You could tell he loved his job here in the Pacific Northwest. Add Spike and Joe and you had the best Radio team in country. Today I now am going to veg out on some twisted tunes and think of memories.
“But, Rivers was born in Honolulu, and shared with the Seattle Times about how he gained attention for a stunt that saw him broadcast continuously through a 23-game losing streak by the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, in 1988.”
I’m trying to figure out what being born in Honolulu has to do with the Baltimore Orioles’ losing streak. Could you please clarify?
Typo. It’s been corrected. Thanks!