Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn
OBE
Blackburn at the BAFTA Awards in 2008
Born
Antony Kenneth Blackburn[1][2][3]

(1943-01-29) 29 January 1943 (age 81)
Guildford, Surrey, England
Occupations
  • Disc jockey
  • singer
  • TV presenter
  • broadcaster
Years active1964–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1972; div. 1977)​
Debbie Thompson
​
(m. 1992)​
Children2

Antony Kenneth Blackburn OBE (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter.

Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC Light Programme.

Blackburn was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1[4] at its launch, on 30 September 1967, and has had several stints working for the corporation. He has also worked for Capital London, Classic Gold Digital and BBC Local Radio, and currently BBC Radio 2 and British Forces Broadcasting Service. He has also had a singing career. As a DJ, Blackburn is known for his championing of Motown and soul music as well as his popular presenting style.

In 2002, Blackburn was the first winner of the British reality TV series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

  1. ^ "Tony Blackburn - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk.
  2. ^ "Tony Blackburn - Biography". IMDb.
  3. ^ "Tony Blackburn Special", Sunday Night is Music Night, BBC Radio 2, 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2021
  4. ^ "Radio Rewind – BBC Radio 1 History – Main Events". Retrieved 30 June 2020.