BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — After 50 years on the radio, a beloved Birmingham disc jockey is walking away from the microphone.

“Dollar” Bill Lawson, a morning host of “Dollar Bill & Madison” on 102.5 The Bull WDXB, announced earlier this week that he would be retiring from his radio show. Lawson, who was recently inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame, first began his career in 1973 in Alabama. In 1984, he began working at WZZK in Birmingham, where he worked for 18 years.

“I’ve never planned on this in a sense, but I’ve decided it’s time for me to retire,” Lawson said during his show last Monday, as reported by insideradio.com. “I’m in my 50th year of radio, I turn 70 this month and my wife has been retired since COVID. I’m working all the time. We do the morning show. We do events. So I’m always busy. At our age now, we need to spend some quality time together. You don’t want to stay too long at the party.”

In his honor, Montevallo Mayor Rusty Nix declared April 3 “Dollar Bill Day” in the city.

A send-off party will be held Tuesday at Tin Roof for the “Stars and Guitars” party benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The date for his final show hasn’t been set.