Radio legend John Peel dies
Fellow DJs, BBC colleagues and British Prime Minister Tony Blair all spoke of the sad loss of a "broadcasting legend."
Peel was on holiday in Cuzco, Peru, with his wife Sheila when he suffered a heart attack.
Famed for championing and discovering dozens of major bands, Peel made his name on Radio 1 following its launch in 1967.
His show made the careers of a host of bands, like Joy Division, The Smiths, Blur and The Undertones.
Unafraid of taking on new challenges, in 1998 Peel began presenting BBC Radio 4's Home Truths, which would garner four Sony Radio awards a year later.
With his late night weekday slot, the DJ was the only pensioner fronting a show on BBC Radio 1.
Oasis star Noel Gallagher, Blur frontman Damon Albarn and singer-songwriter Elvis Costello were just some of the names who paid tribute to Peel last night.
Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said Peel's "influence towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades."
"Hopeful bands all over the world sent their demo tapes to John knowing that he really cared," he said. "His commitment and passion for new music only grew stronger over the years."
He was known as an eclectic music fan, open to a variety of musical styles, but remained constant to what he famously named as his favourite song: the Undertones' Teenage Kicks.
A 2002 compilation album his first, Fabriclive 07 included the track, and he told the BBC: "I've never done a gig without it. And I can't hear it without crying, so it had to be on there."
He was told he was playing "the music of black criminals" when he started playing hip hop, and he also championed punk and reggae.
But he broadened his appeal when he began his first regular programme on BBC Radio 4 Offspring, between 1995 and 1997 which won a Sony Gold Award.
He received an OBE in 1998, earned a place in the Radio Academy Hall of Fame and in 1994 was given the NME Godlike Genius award for his services to music. Earlier this year he was voted Britain's fifth favourite Scouser, in a poll topped by footballer Wayne Rooney.
Three years ago he was diagnosed with type II diabetes, which he dealt with in typically down-to-earth fashion, telling the Belfast Telegraph of his injections: "You would have thought that you would get a brief lift from it, but there's absolutely no response at all.
"If you stop doing it, you get quite floaty, which is obviously what young people pay good money for at the weekends, but is not a good feeling if you are trying to get on with stuff."
He was a lifelong fan of the Archers, a dedicated follower of Liverpool football club, and was writing his autobiography.
He listed his hobbies in Who's Who as making plans to go and live in France and staring out of the window.
He lived in Stowmarket, and leaves a widow, Sheila, two sons and two daughters.
