nolympics writes:

"Broadcasting Legend John Peel Dies, Aged 65
The Guardian

'It feels like John Peel invented Radio 1'

John Peel, the veteran DJ who discovered dozens of major bands during a broadcasting career spanning 40 years, has died after suffering a heart attack. Peel, who was 65, was taken ill during a working holiday with his wife, Sheila, in the city of Cuzco, Peru, and never recovered. The Radio 1 controller, Andy Parfitt, described Peel as a "broadcasting legend""I am deeply saddened by his death, as are all who work at Radio 1," he said. "Walking around the station there is an outpouring of grief and feeling that we want to do something [in tribute]. I am sure in the days and weeks to come we will find a way of doing that on the airwaves."

"We are absolutely knocked out here at Radio 1," he said. "He was a joy to work with. We regularly have DJ suppers where we fill the room with our specialist DJs. John would come along and as the evening wore on, people would gather around him almost like a throne listening to his fantastic stories.

"What we find about great broadcasters is that they are completely dedicated to the music. John would seek out the most obscure and most interesting things to him and would play it and talk about it. That's what makes really exciting radio, people saying exactly what they feel, and that's why people loved John. He was real."

Parfitt said it was always difficult to persuade Peel, who died on a working holiday in Peru, to take time off from the station. "We persuaded him to take a holiday somewhere he particularly wanted to visit," he said.

As a tribute to Peel, the first record Radio 1 played after his death was announced on Newsbeat at lunchtime today, was The Undertones' Teenage Kicks, one of the DJ's favourite songs.

This was followed by tracks from the White Stripes and the Strokes — two other artists from the recent revival in guitar-based indie music that Peel was very much associated with.

The Undertones bass player, Michael Bradley, today said Peel's death had robbed radio and the music industry of one of its greatest voices.

"He was a very funny, very warm man and we will always be grateful for what he did for The Undertones," said Bradley.

"Personally, I find it incredible what he did for the band and we always got huge pride out of the fact he said Teenage Kicks was his favourite single," he added.

Over the last four decades he was renowned for helping to break bands from the Undertones to Siouxsie and the Banshees who were unsigned before he played them.

Siouxsie Sioux was a guest DJ on the show last Wednesday when he was on holiday as was Robert Smith, the lead singer of the Cure, a band Peel also championed in the late 70s.

"He always had his finger on the pulse of the music industry and the fact that Radio 1 played the Undertones, the White Stripes and the Strokes today showed just how relevant he remained throughout his career," said Bradley.

Peel presented the award-winning Radio 4 programme Home Truths as well as a late-night weekday show on Radio 1 and was famous as a champion of new music.

Tributes also poured in from BBC bosses - Mark Thompson, the director general, said he was "shocked and saddened" by Peel's death.

"He was one of the giants of radio and will be missed not just by everyone at the BBC but by millions of listeners of all ages," Mr Thompson said.

The BBC director of radio and music, Jenny Abramsky, added: "John Peel was a unique broadcaster whose influence on Radio 1 could be felt from its very first days.

"He nurtured musicians and listeners alike, introducing them to new sounds.

"His open-minded approach to music was mirrored by his equally generous approach to his audience when he went to Radio 4 to present Home Truths.

"He had a remarkable rapport with all his listeners. Everyone at BBC Radio is devastated by the news.

"John is simply irreplaceable. Our hearts go out to Sheila and his children."

Peel was a hero not just to generations of listeners who have been flooding the Radio 1 website with heartfelt tributes, but to the younger crop of DJs.

"It feels like John Peel invented Radio 1," said one text messager to Radio 1 today. Another said: "I don't think I have ever been affected so much by the death of someone I have never met."

Radio 1 DJ Jo Wylie described the presenter as "one of my favourite men in the whole world. He was an absolute inspiration and simply the don. Everyone at Radio 1 and everyone who has ever met him will testify to that. He is the biggest and saddest loss to everybody."

Parfitt added: "John's influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades and his contribution to modern music and music culture is immeasurable.

"Hopeful bands all over the world sent their demo tapes to John, knowing that he really cared. His commitment and passion for new music only grew stronger over the years.

"In fact, when I last saw him he was engaged in a lively debate with his fellow DJs over the state of new music today. He will be hugely missed."