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Former BBC Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter Andy Kershaw has died aged 66 following a battle with cancer.
His family confirmed the news on Friday afternoon, saying he passed away on Thursday evening.
It had been announced in January that the broadcaster had been diagnosed with cancer and was unable to walk.
The DJ said that doctors had discovered tumours in his spine last August, but insisted: ‘I am in good spirits, feeling very positive and planning another podcast.
‘I am determined not to die before Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Ant and Dec. That should keep me going for a while.’
His close friend, Peter Everett, said the radio star had been facing serious health struggles since his diagnosis.
He said: ‘My friend Andy has been going through a difficult time. Last August he was diagnosed with cancer, mainly affecting his spine and making him unable to walk.
‘Since then he has been undergoing treatment, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, physiotherapy and a lot of scans and painkillers.
‘Although we’ve not been able to put together any podcasts in the last six months, we are very grateful to all the patrons and supporters who have stuck with us.’
Andy spent almost three decades working for BBC, and was best known for his Radio 1 show which ran from 1985 to 2000.
He started his career at the corporation in 1984 as the host of its rock music show Old Grey Whistle Test, and later co-presented the corporation’s television coverage of Live Aid.
The DJ joined Radio 1 as a successor to the late John Peel, and became known for his eclectic taste in music, often featuring non-mainstream sounds on his weekly programme.
Andy also travelled across the world to cover conflicts and cultural stories for the BBC, contributing to Radio 4 shows including From Our Own Correspondent, the Today programme and The World Tonight.
His coverage included the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and reporting from Sierra Leone in 2001 during the final stages of its civil war.
Kershaw also documented radio diaries from North Korea which, according to the BBC, were among the first programmes to be recorded inside the country.
The Rochdale-born broadcaster received multiple Sony Radio Academy Awards throughout his career, and was celebrated for bringing world music and specialised genres to mainstream radio.
The veteran DJ joined BBC Radio 3 in 2001 but left the post in 2007, having faced a series of personal problems after his long-term relationship broke down and he was jailed after breaking a restraining order.
Andy had a 17-year relationship with restaurateur Juliette Banner and they share two children together, Sonny and Dolly.
The couple moved to the Isle Of Man but split on their first day there in 2006 when she discovered his infidelity with another journalist.
It was reported: ‘The dream turned sour on their first day, when she borrowed his mobile and discovered on it a message from a woman with whom he’d had a one-night stand at the Womad festival (“it alluded to a leg-over in the Reading area”).’
Andy wrote in his autobiography, No Off Switch in 2011, that the encounter was of such little significance, he hadn’t even bothered to delete the message.
He implied that he is incapable of fidelity, referring to himself as a ‘selfish d***head’.
His book is filled with references to beautiful, intelligent women that he couldn’t resist, writing things like: ‘I treated Melanie, the sweetest and most loving of girlfriends, disgracefully.’
Juliette took out a year long restraining order on Andy after he refused to accept the breakdown in their relationship.
Andy was imprisoned three times – and arrested many more – for breaking the terms of the restraining order that forbade him from contacting her.
He was given a six-month term suspended for two years after pleading guilty, and left the Isle of Man to address his problems.
In 2012, he told a judge he had lost everything’ after hounding Juliette in the wake of their split.
He said: ‘I have lost my kids. I have lost the woman I love. I have lost everything. It is a very difficult time for me. I just want peace and quiet.’
Andy was born in Lancashire on November 9, 1959. His parents, Jack and Eileen Kershaw, were a headmaster and headmistress.
His older sister, Liz Kershaw, 67, is one of the longest serving female national radio DJs in the UK, having been on the radio for more than 30 years.
In 2022, she claimed the BBC had ‘done her a favour’ after she accused them of sacking her for being over 60.
Her departure from BBC Radio 6 Music after 20 years in March of that year reignited the criticism of the corporation’s treatment of older women, after she tweeted: ‘I got sacked from @BBC6Music because they don’t want women over 60.’
A BBC insider rejected claims of sexism and ageism, pointing out that Liz had recently presented a four-episode Radio 2 series on the biggest-selling musical acts of the Queen’s reign as part of its Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
But she stood by her claims, saying: ‘I don’t want it to be all about me because I think it’s a bigger issue than that. At the same time, I don’t think it’s a job for life and you do have to make room for new people.
‘But it just seems quite remarkable that whereas there are many men in their sixties, seventies and eighties on these pop stations there are hardly any women.’
A spokesman for the BBC said at the time: ‘All radio schedules evolve over time and after 16 episodes of Liz Kershaw’s Legends In Their Own Lunchtime in a year, we wanted to explore other music stories.
‘There were no other factors involved in the decision and we are proud to have a diverse range of presenters on TV and radio.’
