What is Bobby Bones's Net Worth and Salary?
Bobby Bones is an American radio and television personality who has a net worth of $14 million. Bobby bones is known for hosting the nationally syndicated country music radio program "The Bobby Bones Show." His annual salary for hosting the show is $4 million.
He is also known for winning the 27th season of the reality television competition series "Dancing with the Stars," alongside his partner Sharna Burgess. Among his other endeavors, Bones has released albums with his band the Raging Idiots.
Early Life and Education
Bobby Bones was born as Bobby Estell on April 2, 1980 in Hot Springs, Arkansas and raised in the small town of Mountain Pine. When Bones was five, his father abandoned the family. He was subsequently raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, mostly in poverty. For his higher education, Bones went to Henderson State University, where he began his radio career at the campus station KSWH-FM.
Radio Career
While still in college, Bones landed a job at the radio station KLAZ in his native Hot Springs, Arkansas. Later, in 2002, he was hired by Q100/KQAR in Little Rock, and after that worked at KLAL in the same city. Bones's time in Little Rock led to his hiring by KHFI-FM in Austin, Texas. After starting out on the evening shift there, he was eventually moved to mornings, and in 2003 began hosting "The Bobby Bones Show" with Amy Moffett-Brown and Dan Chappell, known by his nickname Lunchbox. The program became a big hit with audiences in Austin over the ensuing years. In 2012, Bones and the show were moved to the WSIX-FM studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Early the next year, "The Bobby Bones Show" started airing in national syndication through Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia. The program, which draws an estimated 9.2 million listeners a week across more than 150 radio stations, serves as a regular interview stop for country music stars such as Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, and Tim McGraw.
Among his other radio engagements, Bones hosts the weekly "Country Top 30 with Bobby Bones," which is carried on over 100 radio stations across the United States. As an employee of iHeartMedia, he has hosted and performed at such events as the iHeartRadio Country Festival in Austin, the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, and the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles. Bones also hosts a podcast called "The Bobbycast," on which he interviews various singer-songwriters. Beyond music-related shows, he co-hosted the weekend sports talk program "Roddick and Bones" with tennis player Andy Roddick on Fox Sports Radio in 2012.
Television Appearances
Bones has made a number of appearances on television. In 2018, he served as a guest mentor on the 16th season of "American Idol"; he became a full-time mentor for the 17th season the next year. Also in 2018, Bones competed in the 27th season of "Dancing with the Stars," paired with professional dancer Sharna Burgess. The couple ended up winning the season. Later, in early 2020, Bones appeared in an episode of the survival reality series "Running Wild with Bear Grylls." The following year, he launched the show "Breaking Bobby Bones" on the National Geographic Channel. In the summer of 2022, Bones hosted the short-lived reality competition series "Snake in the Grass," which aired on the USA Network.
The Raging Idiots
Bones has a music career with his band the Raging Idiots, which features Eddie Garcia from "The Bobby Bones Show." The band signed with the independent record label Black River Entertainment in 2015, and subsequently released the EP "The Raging Kidiots: Kiddy Up." In 2016, the Raging Idiots released their debut studio album, "The Critics Give it 5 Stars," which reached number one on the Comedy Albums chart and number four on the Top Country Albums chart. The album spawned a number of singles, including "We Can't Stand Each Other," featuring Carrie Underwood. In 2017, the Raging Idiots released "The Next Episode EP," which launched the single "Namaste."
Honors and Accolades
Bones has earned many honors for his radio career. From 2004 to 2008, he was named Best Radio Personality by the Austin Music Awards. In 2014, along with his co-hosts Amy and Lunchbox, Bones shared the Academy of Country Music Award for National On-Air Personality of the Year. Bones went on to become the youngest person ever inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, which he did in 2017 at the age of 37. Later, in 2022, he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas.
Personal Life
In the summer of 2021, Bones married Caitlin Parker, whom he first met in 2019 when she was visiting the set of "Dancing with the Stars" with her friend, a PR agent for ABC.
Real Estate
In 2014 Bobby paid $1.19 million for a penthouse condo in Nashville, Tennessee. In October 2021 he put the condo on the market for $2.85 million. Here's a video tour of the condo:
In June of 2020, Bobby paid $3.75 million for a palatial 5+ acre estate in Nashville. The property has 15,000 square feet of living space, 6 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Bobby listed the home for sale in September 2023 for $9.25 million. He sold it in June 2024 for $6.9 million. Here is a video tour: