Alabama’s Bill Lawson, the beloved radio host known to country listeners as “Dollar Bill,” will retire after 50 years on the air.

Lawson, co-host of the “Dollar Bill & Madison” show on Birmingham’s 102.5 The Bull, announced his retirement this week during a morning broadcast with Madison Reeves. The station, owned by iHeartMedia, also is known as WDXB-FM.

“I don’t know how to say this, because I’ve never really planned for this, in a sense, but I’ve decided that it’s time for me to retire,” Lawson told listeners on Monday. “You know, I’m in my 50th year of radio, been doing it every day. This year is my 50th year. I turned 70 this month, and my wife’s been retired now since COVID, Mary, and I’m working all the time, because we do the morning show, we do other events.

“I’ve got some other things I do, other shows we do all over the country and stuff,” Lawson continued. “And so I’m always busy and poor Mary is retired, and she’s got her interest in things. But still, at our age now, we need to spend some quality time together. And, you know, you don’t want to stay too long at the party.”

Lawson, who lives in Alabaster, said he and his wife had experienced health issues in recent years. Although both were doing well now, Lawson said, they wanted to “enjoy some things while you still can.”

Lawson said he loves his current job — “to the bottom of my heart” — and added that the decision to retire was a difficult one.

“That little inner voice was telling me … it’s time to, maybe, kind of do some other things,” Lawson said. He called the next stage of his life “Act 2.”

Lawson didn’t set a date for his exit, and said he’d still be on the air “for a while” with Reeves.

“I’m not going anywhere, and I’m still living here,” Lawson said. “This isn’t going to happen right away.” (Listen to his retirement announcement in the video below, posted on Facebook by 102.5 The Bull.)

The radio station said it will celebrate Lawson on Tuesday, April 11, during an event at the Tin Roof, a music venue in Birmingham. The “Stars and Guitars” concert, featuring acts such as Easton Corbin and Kolby Cooper, is a benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Tickets are $10.25-$40 via Eventbrite.

“Help us in congratulating the one and only Dollar Bill on his retirement and 50 years in Alabama radio,” the station said on its website. “We can’t thank Dollar Bill enough for all he’s done for the Bull, charities such as Children’s Miracle Network and St. Jude, and country music! Dollar Bill was the 2019 recipient of the Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award at CRS. It was also just announced that he will be inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame this July in Nashville! He is a friend to anyone who has ever met him and the kindest soul in the world. We wish him and Mary all the best in retirement!”

Also, Mayor Rusty Nix of Montevallo has announced that Monday, April 10, will be proclaimed “Dollar Bill Day” in that city, honoring Lawson’s philanthropic work over the years and his participation in events there.

Lawson grew up in Birmingham, went to high school at Marion Military Institute and graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in communications, according to his Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.

In a January post on Instagram, Lawson recalled launching his radio career in 1973. “I was working 6-7 days a week, loving it, learning a lot, and making almost $4,500 a year!” Lawson said.

Lawson worked for WACT-FM in Tuscaloosa, Talton Broadcasting in Selma, Big River Broadcasting in Florence, and Mooney Broadcasting and Cox Media Group in Birmingham before joining iHeart in 2002, according to LinkedIn.

In his hometown, Lawson probably is best known for his 16-year partnership with Patti Wheeler, co-hosting the “Patti and Dollar Bill” show on WZZK-FM and then on 102.5 The Bull. (Wheeler retired from radio in 2008 and died in 2012.)

In 2019, Lawson was inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

“Bill Lawson was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a dentist … until his senior year in college,” his profile for the broadcasters association says. “That’s about the time he had a heart-to-heart and told his father he had decided to become a radio announcer instead. The stunned Dr. Lawson took two slow blinks and asked, ‘For how long?’”

Lawson’s profile also explains the origins of his nickname: “Bill says he picked it up when he was promoting a grocery store giveaway. His boss insisted all his DJs have nicknames. ‘He pointed at me and said, ‘You are Grocery Bag Bill,’ and I knew I had to come up with something fast, so I said, ‘No, I’m Dollar Bill.’”