Former CRB Exec. Dir. Bill Mayne passed today (Nov. 28), three weeks shy of his 73rd birthday. Born Willis Ellsworth Mayne, III on Dec. 19, 1950, Mayne began his radio career in 1970 as an on-air talent at Top 40 KRLY/Houston. His on-air and programming stops at KNOW-AM/Austin and AC KPAM-AM/Portland, OR led him to KASE/Austin in 1981, where he flipped the station to Country. Mayne was named OM for both KASE & KVET/Austin in May of the following year before leaving to helm Country KZLA/Los Angeles in 1983. After nearly two years at KZLA, Mayne returned to Texas as PD for WBAP-AM/Dallas, rising to OM for WBAP & KSCS in 1986.

From there, Mayne joined Warner Bros. as Mgr./Southwest Regional Marketing in 1988. He eventually rose to SVP/GM for the label before joining Graham Bros. Entertainment as Pres. in 2007 and subsequently moving on to his own Mayne Street Consulting. Mayne’s passion for radio remained, however, and in April 2010, he joined Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) as Exec. Dir. (Breaking News 3/15/10), holding the post until his retirement in 2018. Mayne was honored with the CRB President’s Award in 2019 (CAT 2/21/19); read his colleagues’ reflections on his career in Country Aircheck here. Mayne was elected to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2021 (CAT 8/3/21) and was honored by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the Randy Owen Angels Among Us Award the same year for his role in securing the first artist to attend the now-annual St. Jude Country Cares Seminar (CAT 11/17/21). He was honored with the Academy of Country Music's Service Award in June. He is survived by his wife Sallie Mayne, sons Bryant and Christopher and grandchild Everleigh. Services are pending; donations may be made in his honor to St. Jude and ACM Lifting Lives.