lit a candle 6h agohonestly don't know what to say. heard Here I Go Again on the radio last week and had no idea who sang it until now. 84 years old, that's a whole life right there
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John "Bobby" Wright was a country singer and television actor best known to millions of viewers as Willy Moss, the radio operator aboard the PT 73 on the ABC comedy McHale's Navy, and to country radio listeners as the singer of the 1971 hit "Here I Go Again." He died…
John "Bobby" Wright was a country singer and television actor best known to millions of viewers as Willy Moss, the radio operator aboard the PT 73 on the ABC comedy McHale's Navy, and to country radio listeners as the singer of the 1971 hit "Here I Go Again." He died on October 27, 2026, at his home in Madison, Tennessee, at the age of 84.
He was born John Robert Wright Jr. on March 30, 1942, in Charleston, West Virginia, the only son and middle child of the country music couple Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells, the singer widely remembered as the Queen of Country Music. He grew up mostly in Madison, Tennessee, where he attended Madison High School and played football, baseball and basketball, and he was performing on the Louisiana Hayride radio show by the age of eight.
As a young man he was drawn first to acting rather than music. A screen test led to his casting, credited simply as John Wright, as Willy Moss in McHale's Navy, the World War Two naval sitcom starring Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn and Tim Conway. He appeared in all 138 episodes of the series, which ran on ABC from 1962 to 1966, as well as in the two feature films spun off from it, McHale's Navy in 1964 and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force in 1965. He also took a guest role on the 1966 sitcom Pistols 'n' Petticoats. By the time he died he was the last surviving member of the McHale's Navy television cast.
When the series ended, Wright left Hollywood and returned to Nashville to build a singing career under the name Bobby Wright, following the path laid by his parents. Recording for Decca, ABC and United Artists between 1967 and 1979, he placed more than 20 singles on Billboard's country chart. His best known record was 1971's "Here I Go Again," which reached number 13 and became the title track of his debut album. He went on to perform for decades as part of a touring family variety show with his parents and sisters, continuing until 2007.
News of his death was confirmed by his family, who said he had passed peacefully at his Madison home with loved ones nearby. A cause of death has not been made public. Tributes from country music writers and fans recalled him both for his place in a storied musical family and for the enduring affection fans held for McHale's Navy. He is survived by his two daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, his sister Sue Sturdivant, and his ex-wife Brenda Wright Moore.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by WPXI.
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