R.I.P.: Former Houston Radio, Rodeo Voice Bill Bailey

Bill Bailey

Former radio personality and iconic voice of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has passed away, officials confirmed Thursday afternoon.

Bill Bailey — a famous radio personality — was the voice of the Houston rodeo for 54 years before he retired in 2015. Bailey started out as a volunteer with the rodeo before later becoming a board member and lifetime executive.

Rodeo Houston officials released the following statement:

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™ today lost one of its biggest ambassadors with the passing of “The Constable,” Bill Bailey. Bill was more than a Show Lifetime Vice President or one of our past RodeoHouston® announcers—he was a true friend to so many of us. He represented the Texas-sized heart of the Show, and our volunteers, staff, and the many young Texans he helped through the years will miss him tremendously.

Bailey is named in the Texas Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Bailey was also a DJ with KIKK radio and severed as a Harris County Precinct 8 constable for several years until 2011.  He was one of the organizing directors of the Texas Citizens Bank and severed on several bank committees.

Born Milton Odom Stanley, in the early '60s he applied to fill a position for a DJ that had been promoted using the song, "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" Bailey, being a team player, agreed to assume the "Bill Bailey" moniker and it managed to stick throughout the rest of his life.