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John Peel. OBE 1939 - 2004   . John Peel was born in Heswall near Chester in 1939 and after completing his military service in Britain in 1962, went to Texas and began working for WRR radio in Dallas. For the next three years he moved to various radio stations in America, among them KOMA in Oklahoma City and KMEN outside Los Angeles. He returned to Britain in 1967 and joined Radio London with the celebrated show The Perfumed Garden. John was with Radio 1 from the beginning in 1967, establishing himself with the late night programme Top Gear. John was the first DJ to give exposure to punk, reggae and hip-hop, long before they crossed over into the mainstream. Almost anyone who is anyone in the world of music has recorded a session for Peel. John added a new string to his bow when in 1998 he became the presenter of a new magazine programme called Home Truths on Radio 4. The programme reflected on the trials, tribulations and delights of family life. He and it became firm favourites with the audience. John regularly topped music paper Best DJ polls. In 1998 John was awarded an OBE. In 2002 he received the industry's highest accolade, when he was awarded the Sony Gold marking his outstanding contribution to radio over 35 years of broadcasting. John was awarded a host of Honorary Degrees - MA (University of East Anglia) Doctorates (Polytechnic University of East Anglia and Sheffield Hallam University), Hon. Degrees (Liverpool University, Open University, Portsmouth University, Bradford University) and a Fellowship (John Moores University Liverpool). He most recently hosted his show on Radio 1 three nights a week and Home Truths on Radio 4. John Peel died of a heart attack on the 25th October 2004, the age of 65, while on holiday in Peru, with his wife Shelia He leaves behind his wife and four children.   "It would be absolutely impossible to write a history of the last 40 years of the British music scene without mentioning John Peel's name. He was one of those few people about whom you could truly say that the world would have been a much different place without him." Jarvis Cocker. lead singer with Pulp  John Peel Day 13 October 2005

John Peel homepage @ the BBC

Peel was respected for championing new music