Broadcaster, DJ, Soul Pioneer

Tony Blackburn is one of Britain’s most recognisable and enduring broadcasters, with a career spanning more than six decades across radio and television.

Born in Guildford, Surrey in 1943, Tony was educated at Millfield School in Somerset and later Bournemouth College. The son of a doctor in Lilliput, near Poole in Dorset, he first performed in public with the Ian Ralfini Dance Orchestra at Bournemouth Pavilion while still at college, before playing with several hotel bands. Music was already central to his life, but it was radio that would become his calling.

In 1964, after spotting an advert for disc jockeys in the music press, Tony joined offshore station Radio Caroline South, making his first broadcast on 25 July that year. Two years later he moved to Radio London, where he presented the UK’s first dedicated soul music programme – beginning a lifelong association with the genre.

Tony became a household name in 1967 when he joined the BBC Light Programme. On 30 September that year, he made broadcasting history as the first voice heard on the newly launched BBC Radio 1, opening the station and presenting its flagship Breakfast Show. He remained on breakfast until 1974, later moving to the mid-morning show and Junior Choice, and continued at Radio 1 until 1984.

His passion for soul music has been a constant throughout his career. At BBC Radio London, his hugely popular soul programme and accompanying “Soul Nights” became a major part of London’s music scene. His championing of soul artists was so influential that Stevie Wonder once turned up in person to thank him for his support.

In 1988 Tony joined Capital Radio to help launch Capital Gold, where his soul shows ran until 2002. Further spells followed at Jazz FM, Smooth Radio, the Real Radio Network, Classic Gold, KCFM and KMFM, cementing his reputation as one of British radio’s most versatile and instinctive music broadcasters.

In 2010 he returned to BBC Radio 2 to take over the legendary Pick of the Pops, following Alan Freeman and Dale Winton, and became a regular presence across the network’s Bank Holiday and New Year programming.

Since 2017, Tony has presented Sounds of the Sixties on BBC Radio 2, which has become one of the station’s best-loved programmes and a major success on BBC Sounds. He also presents Tony Blackburn’s Golden Hour live on Sunday evenings and Sounds of Soul, released every Saturday on BBC Sounds.

Sounds of the Sixties has also developed into a hugely successful live show. Since 2018, Tony has toured theatres across the UK with a full live band and guest singers, bringing the music and stories of the era to packed audiences around the country.

Alongside broadcasting, Tony continues to find new ways of sharing the humour that has always been part of his on-air personality. In 2026 he launched his new joke book, Joketastic, a collection celebrating the gloriously unapologetic jokes, one-liners and wordplay that listeners have come to expect from him.

Tony’s television career has been almost as extensive as his radio work. He hosted his own show, Time for Blackburn, in 1969 and was a regular presenter of Top of the Pops throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. He later co-hosted ITV’s Animals Do the Funniest Things, attracting audiences of more than seven million viewers, alongside countless appearances across entertainment, music and factual television.

In 2002, Tony became the first ever winner of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Ten years later he appeared – controversially under-scored, in his view – on Let’s Dance for Sport Relief alongside David Hamilton. In 2014 he was the subject of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and became a regular contributor to BBC One’s The One Show. In 2023 he joined the presenting team of Morning Live, introducing Tony’s warmth, enthusiasm and distinctive sense of humour to another generation of viewers.

Across his career Tony has received 37 industry awards. They include two Gold Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Radio, awarded in 1989 and again in 2014, making him the only broadcaster to have received the lifetime achievement honour twice. He also received the Sony Award for Best Breakfast Show (Contemporary Music) in 1993 and the Radio Academy’s Music and Media Award in 1997.

More than sixty years after his first broadcast, Tony remains as enthusiastic about music and broadcasting as ever. A pioneer of British radio, a lifelong champion of soul music and an entertainer with an unmistakable style, he continues to broadcast, tour and make audiences laugh – with no apparent intention of slowing down.

Tony is represented by Nick Canham.