Heartbroken Radio 2 listeners have revealed how they ‘feel like they’ve lost a friend’ after the death of legendary DJ Steve Wright at the age of 69.
The channel was inundated with calls on Wednesday morning from listeners who shared how the radio giant put a smile on their faces in the morning, as they paid tribute to the ‘kind, funny, humble and loveable’ star.
Steve’s loving fans of the have been sharing their own heartfelt memories with Nicki Chapman this morning as she sits in for Zoe Ball in a special BBC breakfast show dedicated to the beloved DJ.
Avid listeners of the radio presenter, who was adored by generations of families across the UK, have told how he has shaped their lives throughout the decades, as others expressed how it is ‘so difficult to sum up what Steve meant’.
The veteran presenter’s passing was announced yesterday afternoon, prompting an outpouring of emotional tributes from stars and fellow BBC Radio presenters including Sara Cox, Zoe Ball and Ken Bruce.
Steve Wright, who has died at the age of 69, pictured in his recording studio in 1994
The legendary broadcaster presented Steve Wright in the Afternoon for 12 years on Radio 1 and a further 23 years on Radio 2. He is pictured in 1980
Wright was yesterday hailed by former colleagues and interviewees
Nicki Chapman is sitting in for Zoe in a special BBC Radio 2 breakfast show dedicated to Steve, in which she has been reading out texts from fans and playing some of the legendary DJ’s favourite songs.
One listener who texted in to the breakfast show said: ‘Steve always kept me good company. He made me smile as he sang along to all the songs without a care. It feels like I’ve lost a friend and I am going to miss him so much.’
Another added: ‘Good morning Nicki I had the amazing experience of being a guest presenter on Steve’s show in 2016 thanks to a Children In Need competition.
‘It was around the time of my 50th birthday celebration and it was all my Christmases and Birthdays come at once.
‘In person he was the kind funny humble and loveable person I had listened to over the airwaves for all my life but I am heartbroken.’
Comedian Paul Kerensa joined Nicki on the show and read his own emotional tribute as part of the show’s Pause for Thought segment.
He said: ‘He has left us but he has left us over 40 years of radio magic. I heard Steve Wright in the afternoon on my school run as a child and as a parent.
‘How many times have I stayed in the car to listen to another factoid, another serious jockin’ shoutout, another character from the old days of the old woman ask Elvis, even Mr Angry or Sid the Manager.
‘I was a guest on his big show and it was a highlight of my life because I can say he was exactly the person I wanted him to be.
‘Super welcoming joyous, generous, genuine. When the raucous applause faded away because he faded it Steve was simply a man who adored radio and adored entertaining us.’
One emotional listener texted into the show to say: ‘It’s so difficult to sum up what Steve meant to all of us. Steve Wright, MBE; We love you’
Another listener added: ‘Steve was the soundtrack of my life. My parents listened to him, my grandparents listened to him. He was always so funny and so warm.’
Another recalled how they would listen to Steve while at work as a chef in a pub: ‘His humour sensitivity and love songs made hard work really really enjoyable.’
‘Steve was the soundtrack of my life, my parents listened to him, my grandparents listened to him. Steve was always so warm’, said one fan, while another added: ‘He’s been part of my life since I was a teenager in the early 80s’.
Wright seen in a recent photo from when he was out walking in central London
The DJ, seen in 2003, was made an MBE for services to radio
The DJ was married to Cyndi Robinson until they divorced in 1999. They are pictured on their wedding day
At the start of her show yesterday evening, fellow BBC Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley said: ‘(This is) a very strange show to be doing.
‘It’s extremely hard to know what to say and to be talking about someone that you saw only days ago in this very studio where I am right now – doing a tribute show to that person just does not feel right.
‘It’s very hard to find the words to say and to talk about someone in the past tense when it’s someone that you wish was very much still here. So it’s tough. The Radio 2 family are devastated.
‘There have been many tears… we’ve all worked with Steve Wright for years and years and years, and it’s just very difficult to take in that he’s no longer here.’
Ken Bruce said he was ‘totally shocked to hear the news’.
He added: ‘We were planning lunch to celebrate the award of his richly deserved MBE.
‘An outstanding and innovative broadcaster whose listeners loved him. What a loss to the world of radio.’
The legendary DJ joined the BBC in the 1970s, going on to host shows on BBC Radio 1 and 2 for more than four decades which attracted millions of listeners.
Wright was also a long-standing presenter of Top Of The Pops on BBC One and presented the popular Sunday Love Songs weekend mid-morning show on Radio 2.
His last show was a pre-recorded Valentine’s Day edition of the programme two days ago. Wright told listeners in his final sign-off: ‘I’ll be back for more love songs next Sunday, ta-da then.’
Wright with Bunny Campione at an event at Hamleys Toy Store in London on October 24, 2004
The DJ with Alice Cooper at the Sony Radio Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel on May 12, 2004
Wright in a photo taken in 1995
A statement shared by Wright’s family said: ‘It is with deep sorrow and profound regret that we announce the passing of our beloved Steve Wright.
‘In addition to his son, Tom, and daughter, Lucy, Steve leaves behind his brother, Laurence and his father Richard.
‘Also, much-loved close friends and colleagues, and millions of devoted radio listeners who had the good fortune and great pleasure of allowing Steve into their daily lives as one of the UK’s most enduring and popular radio personalities.
‘As we all grieve, the family requests privacy at this immensely difficult time.’
Wright’s show on Radio 2 last Sunday was pre-recorded, and it is understood that there is another programme ‘in the can’ though it is thought that it won’t be aired following his death.
Tributes have poured in from colleagues today.
Presenter Sara Cox said: ‘It’s really hard to know what to say about the news of Steve Wright’s passing, except we are all shocked and devastated and blindsided by this news.
‘Steve was an extraordinary broadcaster, a really kind person, he was witty, he was warm, and he was a huge, huge part of the Radio 2 family, and I know my fellow DJs will all be absolutely shattered too.’
