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Tributes have flooded in for “inspirational” broadcaster Steve Wright following the DJ’s death, aged 69.
Wright joined the BBC in the 1970s and hosted Steve Wright In The Afternoon on Radio 2 for more than 20 years, as well as being a long-standing presenter of Top Of The Pops.
Soon after the news was announced by the presenter’s family, fellow BBC broadcaster Sara Cox described Wright as “a really, really kind person” during her Radio 2 show. She told listeners that her fellow DJs were “absolutely shattered”.
She said: “It’s really hard to know what to say about the news of Steve Wright’s passing, except we are all absolutely devastated and shocked and blindsided by this news.
“Steve was an extraordinary broadcaster, a really, 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 be absolutely shattered too.
“And I imagine you’re feeling sad, too, and we are here for your messages.
“If you’d like to reach out, if you’d like to share your thoughts or memories about Steve, please do.
“Because we’ve all lost a lovely friend who’s been a big part of our lives for so many years.
“So we’re going to try and do Steve proud for the rest of the show and play the music that he loved.”
His long-time BBC colleague Ken Bruce said he was “totally shocked” by the news as he revealed they were planning to celebrate Wright’s “richly deserved” MBE with a lunch in the near future in a tribute post on social media.
“An outstanding and innovative broadcaster whose listeners loved him. What a loss to the world of radio,” he added.
Here are some of the many tributes made on social media.
Born in Greenwich, London in 1954, the broadcaster joined BBC Radio 1 in 1980 to host a Saturday evening show before moving on to host Steve Wright In The Afternoon a year later until 1993.
Wright then fronted the Radio 1 Breakfast show for a year until 1995, then moved to commercial radio before returning to BBC Radio 2 in 1996 to host Steve Wright’s Saturday Show and Sunday Love Songs.
In 1999, he recreated Steve Wright In The Afternoon on Radio 2, which ran until 2022. Wright continued to present Sunday Love Songs on BBC Radio 2 and, since October last year, he presented the long-running show Pick Of The Pops.
He was made an MBE for his services to radio in the December 2023 New Year Honours list.
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