Paying Tribute to Rick Lewis, the Beloved Voice of “This is Audible”
Rick Lewis’ voice gets us excited to start every new Audible book. His “This is Audible” signifies the launch of a new adventure, the beginning of our immersion into another world, and it’s his voice that gently wraps up the end of our journey, wishing us well with “Audible hopes you've enjoyed this program.” His voice is so beloved by listeners that we’ve kept it as the opening and closing of every piece of audio in our catalog. Even the lo-fi quality of the recording became beloved too, wrapping Lewis’ voice in nostalgia.
It’s with great sadness that we share that Rick Lewis has passed. Lewis was one of the first employees to join Audible after a career in public radio. With only a handful of staff at the time, everyone pitched in where they could to make Audible a reality—as Lewis did when recording these now famous 10 words. As Don Katz, founder and CEO of Audible, shares his tribute to Lewis, we wanted to share your memories as well. That these two short phrases can mean so much to all of us is testament to the power of the spoken word.
My favorite part of starting my work day is, 'this is audible' when I start a new book and settle in to my desk.
'This is Audible' is the best phrase to hear, and 'Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program' is one of the saddest.
The Audible book is not over until you actually hear the Audible dude say, 'Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program.' I don’t care how much production info or special chapters of other books you have to listen to. That’s just how it is. Period.
We've been Audible members for 20 years. I'm glad that super lo-fi 'Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program' guy still ends every title.
'Audible hopes you have enjoyed this program.' Such comforting words for over a decade. Never change the sound byte, please.
Learn more about his life and work on Audible.com and if you would like to share a condolence to pass along to his family, please email us at editors@audible.com. Thank you.