Former Radio 1 DJ Andy Peebles, one of many final individuals to interview John Lennon, has died on the age of 76, his household has confirmed.
He introduced on BBC Radio 1 from 1978 to 1992 and in addition hosted quite a lot of editions of High of the Pops within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s.
Peebles interviewed Lennon two days earlier than the musician’s homicide in December 1980.
Mates and former colleagues have paid tribute, calling him “a beautiful man and an incredible broadcaster”.
Born in 1948, Peebles spent the late Sixties as a nightclub DJ, earlier than turning his hand to radio.
He started his illustrious broadcasting profession at BBC Radio Manchester in 1973, earlier than occurring to assist discovered the impartial radio station Piccadilly Radio a 12 months later, the place he first introduced his Soul Prepare present.
In 1978 he moved to BBC Radio 1 the place he would spend the subsequent 14 years. He additionally introduced on BBC Radio Lancashire.
It was throughout this tenure that Peebles interviewed John Lennon – one of many final that the previous Beatle would do earlier than he was shot and killed in New York in 1980.
Following Lennon’s dying, Peebles maintained a friendship with the musician’s spouse Yoko Ono and interviewed her once more in 1983, in Tokyo, Japan.
Talking on CBS concerning the interview with Lennon, Peebles mentioned “I do not assume I’ve ever been so nervous in my life.
“I might grown-up not simply idolising him however the group [The Beatles] and every part they’d carried out.”
Peebles was additionally one of many presenters at Wembley Stadium for the Stay Assist live performance in 1985, introducing artists together with David Bowie, Spandau Ballet and Paul Younger.
He would go on to broadcast for the British Forces Broadcasting Service and the BBC World Service.
His former Radio 1 colleague Mike Learn paid tribute on social media saying he was “devastated” by the information.
Learn mentioned Peebles “knew his music & cricket inside out. Elevate your bat & get pleasure from a protracted relaxation within the pavilion”.
BBC broadcaster Tony Blackburn additionally expressed his unhappiness on the information, calling him “a beautiful man and an incredible broadcaster”.