Bill Mack
Bill Mack Smith Jr. (June 4, 1929 – July 31, 2020) was an American country music songwriter, singer, and radio host. While at WBAP Radio, Mack initiated the Bill Mack Million Mile Club for truckers achieving one million miles of accident-free over-the-road driving.
Also recorded as Bill Mack Smith Jr.
Bill Mack
- Born
- 1929. · Shamrock.
- Died
- 2020.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- musician, radio personality and singer.
- Fields
- country music.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Bill Mack Smith Jr. (June 4, 1929 – July 31, 2020) was an American country music songwriter, singer, and radio host. While at WBAP Radio, Mack initiated the Bill Mack Million Mile Club for truckers achieving one million miles of accident-free over-the-road driving.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Bill Mack. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q862274
In this article
Life
Life
For many years, Mack was best known as the host of The Country Roads Show, (later U.S. 1 Trucking Show, and later still, Midnight Cowboy Trucking Show) the overnight country music show on WBAP, a clear channel station in Fort Worth. Mack's show catered primarily to truck drivers who traveled during the late-night hours. Its opening theme music was an instrumental rendition of "Orange Blossom Special", performed by Felix Slatkin and his orchestra. Because of WBAP's clear channel signal range via skywave at night, Mack's show was heard over most of the continental United States. Mack began his show in 1969. He briefly took his show to Mexican "border blaster" station XERF, but returned to WBAP when an agreement for Mack to do his show from his Fort Worth home fell through. In addition, Mack hosted the syndicated radio show Country Crossroads, heard on more than 800 stations across the country, and a similar cable television show on FamilyNet. He also hosted the Overdrive Top Ten Countdown, a weekly one-hour country music countdown geared toward truckers, in syndication. Mack left WBAP to join XM Satellite Radio on its Open Road channel (XM 171). Two of the other main personalities on Open Road, Dave Nemo and Dale "The Truckin' Bozo" Sommers, were Mack's primary competitors before all three left their AM radio stations to join XM. Mack's radio program was heard weekdays on XM channel 13 from 12 Noon to 3 PM Eastern, and rebroadcast from Midnight to 3 AM Eastern. On April 29, 2011, Mack announced that Sirius/XM had terminated his contract to make room for a merger of two of the channels The Roadhouse and Willie's Place into one channel and that this was his final show. Mack was succeeded on his WBAP show by Eric Harley, and the show was renamed the Midnight Radio Network and then Red Eye Radio several years later. In the country music industry, Mack was also a songwriter. His best-known song is "Blue," one of LeAnn Rimes' biggest hits. The song won Mack the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1997. Mack also wrote "Drinking Champagne," which has been recorded by numerous artists. The song was a hit for Cal Smith in 1968, and again for George Strait in 1990 on his album Livin' It Up. Some of his other songs have been recorded by Dean Martin, Ray Price, Jerry Lee Lewis and George Jones. In 2000, Mack won the media category award given by the Grand Ole Opry. He was named to the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame in 1982. Bill Mack lived in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife, Cynthia. They had three children - Misty Dawn, Billy Mack III, and Sunday Renee. They had several grandchildren as well as one nephew - Jeff Harrison. Bill Mack had a daughter named Debbie from a previous marriage. Bill Mack Smith III ("Billy") has followed in his father's footsteps and has his own radio show with 92.1 Hank FM in Fort Worth, Texas. Mack died on July 31, 2020. According to his family, he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 two days prior amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1929
Bill Mack born at Shamrock.
2020
Bill Mack died.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
He also worked under the name Bill Mack. His recorded language was English.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,438 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Bill LeebPerson
- Bill LevertyPerson
- Bill ListerPerson
- Bill MacCormickPerson
- Bill MaysPerson
- Bill McCutcheonPerson
- Bill MedleyPerson
- Bill MillerPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Bill Mack?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.