CW McCall dead at 93: Convoy country singer passes away after fight with cancer, son confirms
"CONVOY" singer C.W. McCall has died at 93.
He had been battling cancer and was in hospice care in his Colorado home when he died on Friday, April 1.
The death has been confirmed by his son, Bill Fries III, reports the
McCall rose to fame as a country music star with songs about driving 18-wheelers and big-rigs, including 1976 number one hit "Convoy."
His real name was Bill Fries and he was an ad executive turned singer.
He created the character of C.W. McCall, a truck driver in a series of commercials for a Midwestern bread company.
Read more on celebrities
The goal wasn't to create an alter-ego but to sell bread using catchy, country-sounding jingles.
McCall took on this persona and began recording music about long-haul trucking, even establishing his own CB radio lingo truckers picked up and still use today.
He was well known in the 70's for his hit country records: Old Home Filler-Up and Keep On-a-Truckin’ Cafe, Wolf Creek Pass, and most famous of all, Convoy, which became a number one pop and country hit in 1976.
The novelty hit "Convoy" was a type of spoken-word storytelling that topped bother the country and pop charts, according to .
Most read in Celebrity
Not only did it sell over 2million copies, but it also inspired a 1978 movie of the same name staring Kris Kristofferson.
McCall is survived by his wife of 70 years, Rena Bonnema Fries.
The pair have three children, Bill, Mark, and Nancy.
The couple also has four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson, according to