Legendary BBC Radio host Steve Wright has died. Wright, who presented programs for BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2 for more than four decades, passed away on Monday, Feb. 12, just a day after hosting a pre-recorded special Valentine’s Day edition of his Love Songs program, his family confirmed. He was 69.
“It is with deep sorrow and profound regret that we announce the passing of our beloved Steve Wright,” the family said in a statement, per the BBC. “In addition to his son, Tom, and daughter, Lucy, Steve leaves behind his brother, Laurence and his father Richard. Also, much-loved close friends and colleagues, and millions of devoted radio listeners who had the good fortune and great pleasure of allowing Steve into their daily lives as one of the UK’s most enduring and popular radio personalities.”
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Although a cause of death was not disclosed, the Daily Mail reported that Wright was found dead at his home in Marylebone, central London just after 10 a.m. after paramedics were called to an “incident” on Feb. 12. Wright was pronounced dead at the scene, the outlet reported, with police saying that Wright’s “unexpected” death is not being treated as suspicious with a report being prepared for the coroner. A cause of death will then be determined.
Wright’s brother, Laurence Wright, blamed his brother’s passing on his diet and overall “lifestyle choices,” telling the Daily Mail, “the normal stuff – diet, nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress – he was a very stoic kind of guy as well so if he had something wrong with him and he had to go to have some treatment or go to the doctors, he wouldn’t talk about it. He was the kind of guy who would just carry on, take care of it, not talk about it, not make a big thing, that kind of stoic sort of attitude.”
Born in Greenwich, south London, in 1954, Wright’s decades-long career at the BBC began when he started working as a clerk. He went on to his broadcasting career in 1976, when he left the BBC to join Radio 210 in Reading. Just four years later, Wright joined BBC Radio 1, initially presenting weekend programs. He later went on to launch Steve Wright in the Afternoon in 1981. Throughout his career, Wright also hosted the Radio 1 breakfast show for a year in 1994, joined Talk Radio, and presented a Saturday program and Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2 from 1996. He also presented a series of specials and podcasts, among many other programs.
Paying tribute to Wright on Radio 2, Sara Cox remembered him as “an extraordinary broadcaster, a really kind person,” sharing that he “was witty, he was warm, and he was a huge, huge part of the Radio 2 family, and I know my fellow DJs will all be absolutely shattered too.” Presenter Jeremy Vine told BBC News that “the Radio 2 family are in mourning,” adding that Wright “was such an incredible professional… a lovely man. He was so encouraging to the next generation of presenters like me. He was so generous with his time. He was such a huge figure in British radio. That cheerful voice is gone, and there are so many people who will feel his loss.” Amid Wright’s passing, Radio 2 said it planned to celebrate his life with “with a range of programming across the station.”
