Birmingham TV personality Gordon Burns, known as Country Boy Eddie, has died, WBRC is reporting.

He was 92. Burns hosted the “Country Boy Eddie Show” on WBRC from 1957 to 1993.

A statement from the family said Burns died “peacefully at his home in Warrior.”

“He was a trailblazer for both the Alabama music and television scenes, and his contributions will continue to live on,” the statement reads.” The Burns family would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the viewers, fans, musicians, and everyone else who made his life so special.”

The singer, instrumentalist, radio and TV personality played fiddle and guitar as his primary instruments, but also was known to play banjo, bass, mouth harp and accordion.

Born and raised in Blount County, Burns was 13 and living in Blount County when he went house-to-house selling 10-cent packs of garden seed to buy his first fiddle.

He later earned a place in the band on Happy Hall Burns’ radio show.

“Back about 1942 I went in one day with my fiddle to see him and said I wanted a job on his show,” Burns said in 1993. “He gave me the name “Country Boy,’ and it stuck.”

He later performed on the Armed Forces Radio Network during Korean War, played with the legendary Bill Monroe and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry. He also hosted his own radio show, Hillbilly Bandstand.

But he is best known as the downhome, folksy host of the “Country Boy Eddie Show,” a variety series that aired mornings in Birmingham from 1957 through Dec. 31, 1993. The show included music, comedy, interviews, chatter, funeral announcements and commercial spots, also aired on as many as 100 television stations around the South. He hosted preachers, politicians and professional wrestlers.

Over the years, he interviewed Dolly Parton, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Steve Allen, Pat Boone, Roger Miller, Chet Atkins and Eddy Arnold.

“I used to have to go to bed at 6:30 at night. I never did see the 10 o’clock news until I retired,” Burns said in a 1997 interview with The Birmingham News.

One of Burns’ trademarks was braying like a mule. He also rang a cowbell for emphasis and made quips such as, “We’re going to have as much fun as a gallon of red ants in a barrel of sopping syrup!”

The show also discovered a star in young Tammy Wynette, an unknown hairdresser from Midfield, who got her first break on the show.

Burns’ decision to retire came after almost five years of struggling with the idea. “I’d always said that some day I was going to take a year’s vacation,” he said, after managing only a few days off during the show’s run. “It was hard for me to make up my mind to quit, but once I did I was really sold on it.”