Former BBC Radio One DJ Andy Peebles dies aged 76

Andy Peebles, former BBC Radio One DJ and one of the last people to interview John Lennon, has died at age 76.

His friend and former colleague Mike Read, in a post to X, wrote that he was "devastated" by the news of Peebles' passing.

"We joined Radio One together," Read wrote. "Knew his music and cricket inside and out. Raise your bat and enjoy the long rest in the pavilion."

Tony Blackburn, BBC Radio One's first DJ, said that Peebles was "a lovely man and a great broadcaster."

In 1980, he interviewed John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York, which he said was the highlight of his career.

The interview lasted over three hours, with the final question about how safe Lennon felt in New York, to which he replied that "we couldn't walk around the block" in London.

Lennon would be shot dead by Mark Chapman only two days later.

Born in 1948, Peebles began working as a club DJ, joining BBC Radio Manchester in 1973 and later helping to found Manchester's Piccadilly Radio.

He joined BBC Radio One in 1978, hosting various programmes including My Top Twelve, where musicians would guest, choosing their favourite records and talk about their careers. Peebles would also host 15 episodes of Top of the Pops.

After 14 years at BBC Radio One, he would go on to DJ at Manchester's Smooth FM and London's 102.2 Jazz FM.

Peebles was inducted into the Radio Academy's Hall of Fame in 2011.