Bob & Sheri fought to stay a Charlotte radio duo for 32 years. Did Doja Cat break them up?
When Bob Lacey first started to seriously consider retiring from radio — a move he announced Monday, heralding the end of a decades-long run as co-star of the “Bob & Sheri” show — sure, he was primarily thinking selfish thoughts.
Like most people contemplating retirement do.
He wanted to have more time with his wife, Mary. They live in Hilton Head, S.C., now, they have a boat, they love the coastal waters, and he was toying with the idea of getting involved with an organization that protects oyster beds in the region. He wanted to travel more, and specifically dabble in living other places — definitely in Northeast Harbor, Maine, this summer, and eventually maybe California, or perhaps Spain. He liked the idea of going to visit old out-of-state friends, trying new exercise routines, reading lots of books (he’s currently in the middle of Yuval Noah Harari’s “Sapiens”), watching a few more movies.
But even as his life-after-radio plan coalesced around personal pursuits, Lacey’s decision also was being guided in no small part by the same force that’s guided him professionally for more than 32 years. That would, of course, be longtime show co-host Sheri Lynch.
Now this will take just a little set-up to explain.
As Lacey tells it, he’s tried in recent years — particularly since “Bob & Sheri’s” relocation to current home station K 104.7 (WKQC-FM) in May 2021 — “not to reflect too much” on the air. “Because if you start living in the past, then you’re dead on the radio. I couldn’t allow myself to do that. ... I had to stay contemporary,” the 75-year-old grandfather of two (and, later this year, three) told The Charlotte Observer this week by phone.
What he realized, in the final analysis of the pros and cons of retiring, was there were important ways in which he simply didn’t want to stay contemporary.
Repeating an anecdote he shared on the air Monday morning, after breaking the news that his last show would be on Friday, Jan. 31, Lacey said: “I was watching a promo for, like, an awards show, and some of the people that were mentioned were Jelly Roll, Bunnie XO, Doja Cat and Zendaya.
“I had no idea who they were, and if you’re really serious about doing this, you have to.”
The thing is, he’d gotten to the point where he simply didn’t care about staying current, and he decided that mindset was unfair to Lynch, who did. In other words, among the reasons Lacey ultimately felt a duty to walk away from the show was out of respect for her.
It’s a line of reasoning Lynch firmly agrees with and vigorously commends, even if she says she has “no idea what the world looks like without Bob” — the guy who helped launch her radio career — “being with me every single day of my life.”
‘Just so you know, I will not work with anybody else’
Lacey first made a name for himself locally when he joined 1110 WBT-AM Charlotte as evening host in 1971, when Lynch was 5 years old.
He moved to mornings for the second half of the ’70s, switched to television in the ’80s and became the face of Charlotte’s version of the nationally syndicated “PM Magazine,” then returned to radio in 1990 to host 107.9 WBT-FM’s morning show.
But by 1992, Lacey was struggling in the ratings, and his bosses thought the fix was a female co-host. He balked at everyone they put in front of him — until one morning a 26-year-old marketing department employee walked into the studio to read a promo about a programming change and wound up getting some unscripted air time with Lacey on the spot.
Despite having zero on-air experience, she killed.
From there, very long story very short: Lacey demanded she be hired, management said no, he threatened to leave, management caved, Lynch became one of the top female radio personalities in the U.S., “Bob & Sheri” became a smash-hit. Over the next 25 years, the duo built a large, devoted following both in Charlotte and in syndication, even as their home station burned through several owners.
They were literally inseparable. In fact, when the tables became turned in late 2014 and Lacey’s professional life found its way into Lynch’s hands, she repaid that long-ago favor.
“I was approached by management,” she told the Observer this week, “and they said, ‘We’re gonna fire Bob Lacey. He’s expensive, and we don’t need him.’ And I was like, ‘Well, just so you know, I will not work with anybody else. There’s not a radio guy in the country you can march in front of me. I will not do it. If he goes, I go.’”
Just as it had in the beginning, management caved. Three years later, Lynch — fed up with corporate decision-making — teamed with the show’s original director of syndication, Tony Garcia, and took independent ownership and control of “Bob & Sheri.”
The show soldiered on and continued to make its devoted listeners smile, even as radio lost ground to social media and streaming services; even as Lacey retreated during the pandemic from Charlotte to Hilton Head, from which he’s broadcast remotely ever since; even after Lacey and Lynch were dropped by 107.9 in 2021 and had to find a new home at 104.7.
As recently as May 2022, Lacey said in an interview with the Observer that he had no plans whatsoever to retire.
Only in the past year and a half had his viewpoint quietly started to shift. Consequently, so did his role. It was subtle, and gradual. He skipped a podcast here, dodged a public appearance there. “It was,” Lynch says, “an evolution.”
But it was not, they both say, anyone’s decision but his.
‘Maybe there was something there of value to somebody’
The Charlotte radio landscape has been littered with mysterious departures of iconic personalities over the last several months.
In July, Ramona Holloway — longtime co-host of WLNK-FM’s old “Matt & Ramona Show” — was abruptly laid off from her job as community affairs manager for Radio One Charlotte. In September, fans of morning-radio’s “Ace & TJ” (“K104.7” WKQC) were blindsided by the news that David “Ace” Cannon had left the show, with no explanation. Most recently, in November, one of Charlotte’s longest-running radio shows, “The Big Show” with John Boy and Billy on 99.7 the Fox, bowed out of the local market to lots of head-scratching.
Meanwhile, Lacey’s announcement was handled all above-board, with the timing dictated entirely by him. “It was a lot of relief to get it over with,” he says of Monday’s announcement. “I was very apprehensive about it, because I knew that people are going to say all sorts of things, like, you know, ‘Is his health OK?’ But knock on wood, I seem to be in great, great health.”
No, it was just time, he said. Mostly because all the personal reasons he mentioned. Partly because of Doja Cat.
“When you’re in media, you have to be current and topical. And even if you’re not a fan of Doja Cat, to use his example —” Lynch says, laughing, “when somebody says “Doja Cat,” you have to understand they’re not talking about a pet, right? Bob endeavored to be on top of that for a very long time, and now, it’s not his jam. ... If your job is running a restaurant, and one day you go, ‘I can’t stand the sight of food,’ you gotta get out of the business.
“But more than anything — more than anything — here’s a guy that has been working and supporting people since he was a teenager. How ’bout if it’s his turn to get a break?”
Before he gets that break, though, he’ll get to bid a long, fond farewell during his final run of shows this month. And he’ll almost certainly get choked up, routinely, like he did both during Monday’s reveal and while talking to the Observer about his legacy the day after.
“There were people who have called since the announcement, and texted, and posted on Facebook, that they had been with me for over 40 years, and they thanked Sheri and me. ... I mean —”
Lacey goes silent for a few seconds. His voice shakes as he continues: “— this one woman said I was like a second father to her. She had lost her husband and was going through a very bleak time, but would always feel comforted with my silliness. ... I started reflecting, that maybe there was something we did that was good. That in all these years of making fun of myself and the passing parade of America, maybe there was something there of value to somebody.”
After Lacey’s exit, Lynch will continue leading the program with longtime team members Lamar Richardson (as co-host), Max Sweeten (executive director and producer), Kary “Doc” Bowser (producer, videographer, editor), and Heather Furr (digital director).
But even in Lacey’s absence, the show’s name will remain the same: “Bob & Sheri.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Bob & Sheri fought to stay a Charlotte radio duo for 32 years. Did Doja Cat break them up?."
