Beloved Baltimore DJ Dies After Battle With Pancreatic Cancer

BALTIMORE, MD — Bob “Woody” Popik, the beloved DJ for both the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens, died Wednesday following a weeks-long battle with pancreatic cancer, the Orioles team and his family confirmed. He was 59.

News of Popik’s death was shared widely on social media, including on his Facebook account, where friends and family members paid tribute to the man who spent 15 seasons with the Ravens and four decades playing hits at weddings and other events in the Baltimore area

"Rest in peace, Woody. I hope you are putting together a playlist for the folks in heaven, my friend," one person wrote. "You will be missed."

The Ravens first revealed Popik's diagnosis on Nov. 24 and shared that doctors had given him just months to live after learning the cancer had spread to his spine and lungs.

"I'm going to go out, face it straight up and I'm going to beat it," Popik said from his Baltimore hospice care facility on the Sunday before the Ravens' 23-10 win against the Jets.

Popik was the Baltimore Orioles' DJ for 25 years, according to officials. He started with the Ravens in 2010 and with Navy football the following year. When he wasn't working in sports, he played tunes at more than 800 weddings in and around Baltimore and at more than 1,000 other events.

Popik's favorite songs to play at games were his version of Nelly's "Hot in Herre" for Ray Lewis' introduction and "Seven Nation Army." He told the Ravens that one of his favorite recent memories was from last year's "Sunday Night Football" win over the Buffalo Bills, when Derrick Henry opened the game with an 87-yard touchdown run.

"Woody has an incredible instinct for music," Ravens' Vice President of Broadcasting and Gameday Productions Jay O'Brien said in November. "He knows exactly what to play and when to play it."

O'Brien continued, "For 15 seasons, he's brought that magic to Ravens football, and we've all benefited. When he hits play on the perfect track and 70,000 fans erupt, you feel it — it's electric, it's Baltimore and it's Woody."

Throughout his diagnosis, Popik remained optimistic when Parade spoke to him by phone from the hospital.

“You can tell it in my voice I’m not down, I’m not depressed, I’m not overwhelmed thinking about what I have,” he said. “I’ve been given six to nine months to live, and I take it in stride, and I am going to fight until every breath is out of my body. I’m not giving up, and I’m remaining positive. I believe that you need to remain positive to beat this. And that’s what I continue to do.”

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh paid tribute to Popik during his news conference on Wednesday.

“We’re offering condolences to the Popik family for the passing of Woody Popik, our longtime stadium announcer and DJ, who did a great job for all those years,” he said in a clip shared on X. “Our stadium is loud and full of energy thanks to Woody and people like Woody. We appreciate him and we appreciate his family, and we offer our heartfelt condolences for their loss.”

A GoFundMe was established by friends of Popik before his death. The fundraiser remains in place to help his family cover funeral costs, burial, transportation and other end-of-life expenses.