EXCLUSIVE: The Radio 2 stalwart speaks to the Mirror about how he’s stayed top of his game for 60 years – and his thoughts on going into the jungle again
It all began at 7am one September day in 1967. Tony Blackburn, then 24, took to the airwaves and said: “And good morning, everyone… welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1.” They were the first words ever spoken on the station.
Fast forward nearly 60 years and the same man is still ruling the airwaves at the Corporation. Tony’s Sounds of the 60s programme is the most popular on-demand music show on BBC Sounds.
And as he gears up for a star turn at this weekend’s Radio 2 in the Park in Chelmsford, Essex – as well as continuing on his sell-out Sounds of the 60s live tour – it’s clear Tony is as in demand as ever.
“I’m 82 now and travelling around the country and doing more shows than Cliff Richard. Who knew I would become a theatre luvvie so late in life,” Tony says with a laugh as he speaks to the Mirror from the home he shares with wife Debbie. “But I am just delighted to be doing what I’m doing.” As well as radio, Tony is a hit on TV, and has been carrying out presenting duties for BBC1’s Morning Live show.
He jokes that getting older has its advantages when it comes to subjects to discuss on air. Tony says: “I wear a hearing aid now to stop tinnitus, so I can talk about that. I had an eye test last week too. If I find something else on my body that isn’t working quite well, I’ll do a film on that too. I’m a gift for Morning Live.”
He is also known for his stint on I’m a Celebrity in 2002, winning the first series of the ITV show. As the channel gears up for a new all-stars version of the programme, reuniting former contestants, Tony says he has no desire to revisit it. He says with a laugh: “I talked to one or two people who won it, and what’s the point in going back and losing?
“I did it once, and I really enjoyed it, but it’s got to a stage where it’s much harder than it was when I was doing it.”
He adds: “I don’t remember them telling us they were going to give us trials to do. I thought we would be sitting around a fire for two weeks or three weeks, just chatting. [Fellow contestant] Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was sent out to do a trial, and when she came back she said she had insects poured all over her and thought it must have been a mistake.”
Tony says he would much prefer to be doing Morning Live, but adds: “On the other hand, if I went out and did [I’m a Celebrity], I might get some dreadful disease out there, which might actually be useful to talk about.”
He can laugh now but two years ago that did actually happen. His life was in the balance as he spent two months in hospital battling sepsis and pneumonia. He says: “I didn’t realise how unwell I was ’til one day my whole family was around my bed, and I thought, ‘This isn’t good’.”
He got his first taste of the airwaves on pirate station Radio Caroline in 1964 after spotting an ad in the paper. He then moved to Radio London before his big moment on Radio 1. He joined Radio 2 in 2010.
Tony has a special relationship with listeners, and he is looking forward to seeing them this weekend. He says: “A lot of them come and say, ‘You’ve been with us all our life’. It’s so lovely to get feedback.
“Also, they’re so kind. The older I get, the nicer they are. I think they’ve accepted I’m not going to go away so they have to live with me.” The deaths of his Radio 2 colleagues Johnnie Walker and Steve Wright last year were hard.
Tony says: “I was very, very close to Steve. I used to come off the air on Friday and go in his studio when he was off air, and we used to talk absolute rubbish for an hour.
“And I think he liked me. He told me he liked my shows, my style of broadcasting. I liked his very much. He was one of the best DJs of all time. Johnnie, too, was lovely. When I was in hospital he sat in for me on my programme, so he was great.”
Tony, who married his second wife Debbie in 1992, and is grandad to two boys, even DJ’d at the wedding of his daughter Victoria. He says of Radio 2: “It’s a lovely station to work on because everybody [there has] proved themselves already, so there’s not the competition you’d get elsewhere, possibly. Nobody’s after my programme.” At the event this weekend he is most excited about catching Kid Creole and the Coconuts. The bill also features Bryan Adams, Jessie J and Olly Murs.
But Tony is most focused on his DJ set. He says: “They get me on at 12 o’clock. I’m not sure if that’s because I am quite good at getting an audience going, or whether they want to get me on and off quickly.
“It’s so nice seeing the other DJs as well. Obviously I’m the oldest there but we all get on very, very well.”
He is a huge fan of Jeremy Vine, and finds it fascinating the way he documents his bike journeys on social media. Tony says: “I love somebody who’s obsessed by something, in his case cycling. We always have a good laugh and I ask him if he has still got that silly little camera on his head.”
Tony says he is obsessed about two subjects in particular.
“I love Coronation Street. I’ve watched every single episode since it started. To me, they’re real people. I’ve met nearly all of them too.
“Other than that, I don’t have any hobbies. My hobby is this… my work.”
- Radio 2 in the Park is in Chelmsford from Friday to Sunday. Tickets and info: www.bbc.co.uk/radio2inthepark. Watch live on BBC iPlayer from 12.15pm on Saturday.