R.I.P.: Bob Hamilton, Iconic 'Voice of KMOX'

Screenshot of Radio.com

KMOX has confirmed that one of St. Louis' iconic radio voices, Bob Hamilton, 82, has died due to complications with COVID-19.

He was in the hospital for five days and died on Thursday night. The first day Hamilton was entertaining staff who recognized his voice, but then for four days he was intubated on a ventilator, according to his longtime friend Dennis Potter.

Potter says he died of kidney failure.

Hamilton, known for decades at "The Voice of KMOX" from the 1980s to early 2000s. He won several awards for his work at KMOX was even asked to continue working at the station past the retirement age of 65, according to STLMediaHistory.org.

He began his radio career in Fulton, Mo and in 1982 was hired at KMOX.

"I sang in the church choir when I was little, but I don't think I was that good. In high school, I always wanted to be in radio -- the people in radio were my heroes," Hamilton explained to the Riverfront Times when he was named "Best Radio Voice in 2000. "So I would just spend hours and hours reading the newspaper into a tape recorder. I would listen to the people I thought were the best, and I would borrow a little from this and a little from that and come up with something."