Longtime Nashville media and country radio personality Kelly Sutton will be the new star of the WSM Radio morning show, filling a slot left by 32-year morning man Bill Cody, who died June 9.
Sutton, part of the Coffee, Country & Cody Show for five years, steps into the main role when The Kelly Sutton Show launches Aug. 10, the station announced July 30.
Sutton paid tribute to Cody in a statement announcing her new show.
"Bill Cody was so much more than a coworker," she said. "He was a dear friend, a mentor, and someone who helped shape both my career and my love for this audience. Our listeners have always felt like family, and that won’t change."
"I am thrilled to be carrying on the legacy of WSM," Sutton told The Tennessean, "and the legacy of the morning
show in particular."
WSM 650 AM launched in 1925 and has been the home of live broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, where Sutton became the first woman to serve as announcer in 2022.
Nashvillians also know Sutton as a former Fox 17 news anchor, from 2001 to 2013, and a former WSMV4 midday show co-host, from 2016 to 2020. In the past several years, Sutton has built a national following among country fans on radio and on podcasts.
Sutton will continue hosting her nationally syndicated radio show, “Y'all Access with Kelly Sutton,” Amazon Music's “Country Heat Weekly” podcast and a radio show in the U.K.
“Kelly’s personality, her passion for the music community, and the genuine relationships she’s built with artists and fans is exactly what our listeners connect with,” WSM General Manager Eric Marcum said in a statement.
Longtime fellow morning show personality and fellow Opry host Charlie Mattos will remain on the morning show, as will WSM studio director Annie Ney.
Sutton said the show will make a slight shift toward building a younger audience, in part by inviting current country stars on as guests and by livestreaming on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook every weekday morning, starting at 7 a.m.
Sutton also will have her Amazon Music show co-host, Amber Anderson, contributing regularly to the WSM morning show, the station said.
"I think we are going to attract a younger audience," she told The Tennessean. "We have a multi-generational cast and crew with ages from 27-62 working on the show, which means we can chat about a lot of topics."
The show will continue to reach out to its traditional country music demographics as well. Mattos will play songs from his "Vinyl Vault" and Sutton herself will feature songs from the '80s and '90s in her "Kelly's Country Time Machine" segment, she said.
Sutton said she'll carry her new WSM role into all her media platforms.
"My wish is to continue to bring WSM and the Opry to a national spotlight any chance I get," she said. "I believe the more we amplify one another, the stronger our legacies become."
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kelly Sutton to helm WSM Radio morning show after Bill Cody's death
