WORCESTER, Mass. - A familiar voice to many in the Central Massachusetts community has passed away. 

Longtime radio host Bob Rivers died Tuesday after battling esophageal cancer. 

Rivers hosted "The Bob and Zip Show,” a weekly show on 100.1 The Pike.

He also worked in Seattle for 25 years but had worked in Worcester at WAAF for six years prior to his Seattle stint when he became a household name.

Marketing manager for The Pike, Bob Goodell, said he was a very special on-air personality. 

"The people you hear, and you listen to for an extended period of time are thought of as your friends and you relate them to a period in your life whether you were in high school or college, you just got married, you just had kids,” said Goodell. “And Bob's two sons were born here in Worcester and his wife Lisa, and he they lived here, and so it doesn't surprise me that people still hold him in in high regard because they feel like it's it was their friend that died."

Rivers was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2023. 

He and his co-host Peter Zipfel were also known for their popular "Twisted Christmas" comedy album and other parodies.