Former pirate radio DJ and broadcasting legend Johnnie Walker dies aged 79

31 December 2024, 16:29 | Updated: 31 December 2024, 17:37

Broadcasting legend Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79 - just two months after stepping down from his radio show.

The veteran radio DJ retired at the end of October due to ill health.

He'd previously been diagnosed with lung condition pulmonary fibrosis - an illness that restricts breathing as a result of scarring of the lungs.

The radio presenter - who was born in Birmingham - had worked in broadcasting for 58 years, a career that began in pirate radio and ended on the BBC.

Walker's death was announced live on air by colleague and fellow broadcasting legend Bob Harris on Tuesday.

Harris paid tribute to Walker for passionately defending "the music that he loved" and detailed how the two men had helped each other through various health struggles.

He said: "I've known Johnnie since the 1960s when I first started listening to him on pirate radio and we know what an incredible, wonderful, superb broadcaster he was.

"We also know how passionate he was about his music, went out on a limb many times to defend the music that he loved and he was passionate about radio, and as the 60s moved into the 70s he and I became increasingly close friends, a friendship that endured right up to the present day.

"We had many shared experiences, not least our support of each other during our various health experiences.

Tiggy Walker, Johnnie's wife, said: "I couldn't be more proud of Johnnie - how he kept broadcasting almost to the end and with what dignity and grace he coped with his debilitating lung disease.

"He remained his charming, humorous self to the end, what a strong, amazing man."

"And if I may say - what a day to go. He'll be celebrating New Year's Eve with a stash of great musicians in heaven. One year on from his last live show.

"God bless that extraordinary husband of mine, who is now in a place of peace."

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The DJ, who presented Sounds Of The 70s and The Rock Show, announced in October that he would be hanging up his microphone for good.

Walker began broadcasting as a disc jockey in May 1966 as part of Swinging Radio England.

He later joined what is arguably one of the most recognisable pirate radio station in history - Radio Caroline.

Stationed offshore, the radio DJ formed part of the largest and most impactful waves of pirate radio, with government action forcing its closure in 1967.

Following its closure, just three presenters continued to broadcast on Caroline: Walker, Robbie Dale and Ross Brown, until the signal was switch off in March 1968.

Reading out a letter to listeners on his retirement, the DJ said: "Now, that leads me to be making a very sad announcement."

"The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult, hence my little jokes about Puffing Billy, so I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end."

In October 2003, Walker underwent chemotherapy and an emergency operation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He told his listeners live on air of the diagnosis and later revealed that he "died" on the operating table three times during surgery to repair his burst intestine.

The condition IPF is one "in which the lungs become scarred and breathing becomes increasingly difficult", according to the NHS.

The NHS website says it is not clear what causes the condition and that treatments can reduce the rate at which it worsens, but that there is "currently no treatment that can stop or reverse the scarring of the lungs".