Legendary BBC presenter Johnnie Walker dies after ‘debilitating’ lung disease as tributes pour in
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VETERAN radio DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced. At the end of October, he presented his final Sounds Of The 70s show on BBC Radio 2 and hosted his last episode of The Rock Show as he retired due to ill health. Walker had announced in early October that he was retiring from radio after 58 years having been previously diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
![[Veteran radio DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/p0kfztlc.jpg?strip=all&w=944)
He was born in Birmingham and left school at the age of 15 to train to become a mechanic, later taking a job as a car salesman. He found an outlet for his passion for music with a Friday night slot as a disco DJ under the name Peter Dee. Walker began his radio career in 1966 on Swinging Radio England, an offshore pirate station.
He later moved to Radio Caroline, where he became a household name hosting the hugely popular night-time show. Walker went on to join BBC Radio 1 in 1969, continuing until 1976, with him later moving to San Francisco, where he recorded a weekly show broadcast on Radio Luxembourg.
He returned to the UK in the 80s and presented Radio 1's Saturday Stereo Sequence. After working on various BBC stations, he left Radio 1 for good in 1995 and three years later he was offered his own weekly show on Radio 2, before taking over Drivetime.
He earned a reputation as a DJ who accorded more importance to the records he played than the chat between tracks, with names he pioneered including Lou Reed, Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. In October 2003, Walker underwent chemotherapy and an emergency operation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
