Radio icon Bob Kevoian discloses cancer diagnosis, launches podcast

Bob Kevoian became an inductee of the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2015. (File photo)

Bob Kevoian, co-founder of radio’s “The Bob & Tom Show,” is talking about his recent diagnosis of stomach cancer on a new podcast.

Retired since 2015, Kevoian made a rare appearance Wednesday morning on the syndicated “Bob & Tom” show based in Indianapolis to publicly reveal that he was diagnosed with cancer in April.

Kevoian, 72, talked about a new podcast, titled “The Bob & Cancer Show,” he’s making with his wife, Becky Kevoian, and songwriting partner Whit Grayson.

The first six episodes of the show, which recap Kevoian’s experiences with radiation and chemotherapy treatment, are available to listeners.

“We’re doing this podcast to explain what happens to us every week as we go along,” Kevoian said on the first episode. “We have kept this very private until now. We’re going to hopefully walk you through what actually happens, in case something like this happens to you or a loved one.”

Kevoian described cancer as an unexpected new partner that he hates and needs to eradicate.

On the podcast’s first episode, Becky Kevoian quoted her husband’s doctor as saying, “This is a rough road that Bob’s going down, but it’s curable.”

Kevoian and Tom Griswold launched “The Bob & Tom Show,” which continues to include Kevoian’s name in its title, on radio station WFBQ-FM 94.7 on March 7, 1983.

The duo’s work on the comedy-themed morning show led to induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2015.

Today, Griswold and a cast that includes veteran sidekicks Chick McGee and Kristi Lee are heard on dozens of radio stations nationwide, including “Bob & Tom’s” 6 to 10 a.m. slot on Q95.

Kevoian, a Los Angeles native who initially worked with Griswold on a radio station in Petoskey, Michigan, said the “Bob & Cancer” podcast won’t be a grim listen.

“You do not lose your sense of humor because you have cancer,” he said.