Bill Cody’s condition has worsened sharply, and his daughter says his only chance of survival is a double heart and kidney transplant. Hannah Davis said in a May 31 Facebook post that the longtime Grand Ole Opry announcer was admitted to the ICU about three weeks ago with heart and kidney failure, and that doctors intubated him early Friday after his heart strength and ability to pump blood slipped again.

Davis said Cody had passed the tests needed to qualify for the transplant list, a step that briefly raised hope for his family, before his condition declined and he was placed on ECMO, short for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. She said the machine would give his body the next 48 hours to rest and regain strength, while the transplant team prepared to meet Tuesday to decide whether he can be listed.

The post landed at a moment when friends, listeners and country-radio colleagues were already watching closely. WSM Radio said Cody has helped shape the soundtrack of Nashville for decades, with a career that spans nearly 50 years on the airwaves, more than 30 years hosting Coffee, Country & Cody, and work in nationally syndicated radio, television and film. He also earned multiple nominations from the CMA, ACM and Billboard for broadcasting excellence.

That long career has only deepened the attention around his illness. Cody was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and received a star on the Music City Walk of Fame in 2024, honors that marked his place in Nashville radio history long before this latest medical crisis.

Still, the hardest part for his family is the one Davis could not answer on Saturday night: whether the transplant team will move him onto the list in time. She said they have prayed for him to clear the remaining hurdles, but she also warned of the risks that come with ECMO, including stroke, blood clots and infection. For now, the next step is simple and unforgiving — Tuesday’s meeting may decide whether Cody’s survival depends on a donor match that has not yet arrived.

Cody and his wife, Rebecca, have raised three children and live just outside Cross Plains, Tennessee, in Robertson County. Around Nashville, he has spent a lifetime behind the microphone; now his family is waiting for the specialists to decide whether that lifetime can be extended with a transplant.