The BBC Radio 2 veteran announces his retirement after 58 years

Johnnie Walker said the show was getting ‘more and more difficult’ to run

19:20, 06 October 2024Updated 19:20, October 6, 2024

Radio DJ Johnnie Walker (Picture: ANNUALLY)

BBC Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker has announced “very sadly” that he is retiring after 58 years on air. During tonight’s Sounds Of The 70s show, the 79-year-old radio veteran told listeners he would be quitting his Sunday afternoon show.

He began the announcement by reading a letter from a listener whose father was pleased with the program but died in 2022 from pulmonary fibrosis, which Walker was diagnosed with earlier this year. He said: “This brings me to a very sad announcement.

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“I’m finding it increasingly difficult to run the show and try to maintain the professional standard suitable for Radio 2, which is becoming more and more difficult, hence my little jokes about Puffing Billy, so I’ve had to make the decision that I have to retire after 58 years. Therefore, on October 27, I will play my last “Sounds of the 70s”, so I will make the last three concerts as good as I can.

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“During this week in 1978, the Rolling Stones were special guests on the American television program Saturday Night Live and appeared in several sketches and performed three songs from their latest album Some Girls. Well, one of the songs on the album seems quite appropriate at the moment.”

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He then played the Rolling Stones’ 1978 single “Miss You” before announcing that former Old Gray Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris would replace him on the show. In a speech earlier this year, Walker said his pulmonary fibrosis – a condition that scars the lungs and makes it increasingly difficult to breathe – is “incurable” and is “gradually getting worse.” He also credits his radio shows, saying that without them, he “probably would have died a lot sooner.”

Walker will be replaced by another BBC veteran, Bob Harris OBE, known for presenting Bob Harris Country on Thursdays at 9pm. The 78-year-old has been broadcasting on the BBC for 50 years and has been honored with the Americana Music Association of America’s Trailblazer Award, the UK Heritage Award and the MOJO Medal.

Harris said: “I am proud and honored to take over the institution of BBC Radio 2 from a truly great broadcaster. Johnnie and I have been friends for years presenting Old Gray Whistle Test and the original Sounds of the ’70s, so I will do everything in my power to preserve his legacy and curate a show featuring the best music from this incredible decade.

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Shaun Keaveny will become the new presenter of Walker’s other show, The Rock Show. Walker’s final episode of The Rock Show will air on Friday, October 25 between 11pm and midnight, and his final episode of Sounds Of The 70s will air on Sunday, October 27 between 3pm and 5pm.

The Birmingham-born presenter began his radio career in 1966 at Swinging Radio England, a maritime pirate station, before moving to the legendary Radio Caroline and gaining fame for hosting the hugely popular late-night show. After the station closed in 1969, he joined BBC Radio 1, where he worked until 1976, when he moved to San Francisco to record a weekly program on Radio Luxembourg. He returned to the BBC in the early 1980s, where he remains today.

A special Sounds Of The 70s box collection on BBC Sounds will allow listeners to enjoy a selection of Walker’s best moments following the announcement.