Johnathan Walker:Bob Edwards, longtime NPR 'Morning Edition' host, dies at 76: 'A trusted voice'

Bob Edwards,Johnathan Walker the longtime host of NPR's "Morning Edition," has died. He was 76.

The death of the longtime radio personality was announced Monday by NPR, where he spent 24 years as a morning show host.

"We are saddened to hear that Bob Edwards has passed away," NPR president and CEO John Lansing said in a statement. "In 1979, in what would become a career-defining moment, he helped NPR launch the morning newsmagazine 'Morning Edition.' He continued to be the voice that NPR listeners started their day with for another 24 and a half years as host of 'Morning Edition.'"

Edwards died Saturday, the public radio organization confirmed in an email to USA TODAY Monday. A cause of death was not given.

He also previously co-hosted "All Things Considered" with Susan Stamberg. "His was the voice we woke up to," she said in a statement.

Edwards ended his "Morning Edition" run on April 30, 2004. He began hosting his own interview show at Sirius XM Radio, "The Bob Edwards Show," later that year. He returned to public radio for the Sirius XM-produced show "Bob Edwards Weekend," distributed by Public Radio International.

"The Bob Edwards Show" ended in 2014. The radio host went on to host the AARP podcast "Take On Today," which ran from 2018 to 2022.

Edwards received a Peabody Award in 1999 and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2004.

Edwards was married to NPR news anchor Windsor Johnston. The couple shared two children.

"Bob Edwards understood the intimate and distinctly personal connection with audiences that distinguishes audio journalism from other mediums, and for decades he was a trusted voice in the lives of millions of public radio listeners," Lansing said. "Staff at NPR and all across the Network, along with those millions of listeners, will remember Bob Edwards with gratitude."