WEATHERFORD, Texas -- Every weekend in more than 300 markets around the world, Bob Kingsley's deep throttle of a voice brings in millions of radio listeners.
His easygoing, smooth-talking cadence has become synonymous with country music radio through more than a 40-year career hosting the country's top country countdown shows.
"I've gotta be the luckiest guy in the world," Kingsley said during a recent Monday interview.
Mondays are the actual recording day for Kingsley and a tight-knit crew that call a studio in Weatherford home.
WFAA got a recent look at the facility, and a chance to sit down with a man that has sat down with just about every name in country music.
"My approach, it's always I start finding people in my head that I know are listening or listen to country music radio, and I talk to them," he said.
Kingsley is quick to point out he didn't start out so naturally.
Stationed in Iceland as an 18-year-old airman, Kingsley was thrown behind the mic one day on Armed Forces Radio to read some news copy. It didn't go well. "They tore a copy right off the AP wire, and I ruined it man. I ruined it," he said with a laugh.
Eventually, he landed back in the states and Southern California with a producer job at the famous American County Countdown opened up. By 1978, he got an on-air chance as host and never looked back. "That was a time of big change," he said. "There was George Strait, and then, of course, in '75 Randy Travis and everything changed."
The industry has continued to change. Is it too "pop-centric" in 2018?
"For my taste, a little yeah," said Kingsley. "But the thing about the top songs, is they wouldn't be there if people weren't listening."
For the past 12 years, Kingsley has hosted his own Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40. It remains one of the more popular weekly shows in the country.
He admits that at age 79, he thinks a little bit more about his future, and his voice, then he used to.
"I won't say any names, but you hear some people and know they've lost it [voice]," he said. "I don't want that. If that happens, and I know it will, then I'll be able to walk away and say, 'It's been grand."'
At his ranch outside of Weatherford, Kingsley has found another passion in cutting horses.
"I remember when we visited before moving out here," he said. "I woke up in the morning and saw all these horses and said, 'I think we may have found the area."'
Kingsley is also an avid supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project.