RIP Annie Nightingale - DJ, Trailblazer and Icon
BBC Radio One's First Ever female DJ who joined the station in 1970 and never left has passed away aged 83. A reflection on chatting with this iconic woman who changed media and music in the UK
We all have a really cool friend. A friend who does cool things, has a cool job and knows cool people. My cool friend is Nick who I have known since I was an 18 year old drama student and he was writing ads for local station Radio Mercury - ‘The Heart of The South’
Fast forward 30 years and Nick is still the coolest person I know. I was managing celebrity relationships for Cunard Line and Nick was working in TV production and knew lots of celebrities! One of whom was the incredible Annie Nightingale. He introduced us and I booked Annie to appear as a celebrity Guest onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth in 2017.
On the day she embarked the ship I went to meet her at the port so I could help her with boarding and ensure that she had everything she needed. In 2017 she was already in her late 70s and had some mobility issues due to injuries sustained during a violent mugging in Cuba.
As she stepped out of her car curb side at the terminal she had an aura. She was important but not self important and to someone who never remembered a time when she was not on the radio or TV she was ANNIE NIGHTINGALE! And when she spoke “Hello Jason thank you for coming” I was transported. The voice I had listened to my whole life was speaking to ME. This was better than any request or shout out on the wireless . Even better was that fact that how you hear her on the radio is how she speaks - there is no ‘radio voice’, no Doctor Foxing about, just authentic Annie Nightingale. She was your cool friend on the radio who knew about all the new bands and artists before anyone else and she was also just the nicest person to speak with.
I had been nervous booking Annie for Cunard because she is a pioneer who has never been constrained by traditions. She is known for championing new, cutting edge music and was still playing drum and bass DJ sets in her 70s. Cunard is known for ballroom dancing to old fashioned music, a harpist on every ship and enforcing a jacket and tie dress code for men at dinner time. But Annie was a pro (of course) and as we chatted during the day she told me about a TV show she had made in the 70s onboard Cunard’s old warhorse the QE2 which she had loved. At that time Bowie was a regular passenger and later The Cure used the ship to travel to the US for their tours.
The fact that Annie Nightingale was fronting British TV shows in the 1970s and was a well known presenter on the only national pop music station was a sign of her trailblazing achievements. She once said that ‘the guys were waiting for me to fail’ but where Annie loved the music it seemed like some of the guys just loved their own radio voices. I never got the sense either from speaking with her or from reading her book ‘Wicked Speed’ that Annie set out to break barriers - she set out to get work.
It just happened that she was an excellent radio presenter who hosted music shows, current affairs and documentaries. But in my opinion it was her passion for discovering and championing new music that ensured and enhanced her professional longevity and legacy. Today’s media landscape would never have space for someone as eclectic as Annie who championed artists from The Ramones and Patti Smith to Siouxsie and Banshees, Adam Ant and Duran Duran before being pretty much the first person on Radio One to open up the airwaves to acid house, rave and EDM.
Needless to say her appearance in the theatre onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth was a huge success. She told tales of her career, of working with The Beatles, The Stones, Jeff Beck, Blondie and U2. She made an audience of people her age feel that they too still had lots to offer and discover.
During our conversation she said “we all need to keep looking for new things because when we stop then it’s all over” - Annie Nightingale lived by this maxim. I am so grateful to have had the chance to spend a day in her company - because who gets to chat with a true icon?
Her final show on BBC Radio 1 was on December 19th 2023 and she signed off appropriately, by saying "lots of love, from me to you".
Annie Nightingale CBE - Pioneer, DJ, and Icon.
Born 1st April 1940 Osterley, Middlesex, England
Died 11th January 2024 London, England
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