As Radio 2's Johnnie Walker announces retirement, share your fondest memories of his career

The DJ has announced his retirement due to his terminal illness

Veteran DJ Johnnie Walker returns to Radio 2, after treatment for cancer. He announced to listeners in June that he had a malignant tumour in his colon and took a break for emergency surgery and chemotherapy. He returned to host the two-hour drivetime programme at 5pm.   (Photo by Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
DJ Johnnie Walker, pictured in 2004, has announced his retirement from BBC Radio 2 due to his ailing health with terminal illness idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. (PA Images)

Johnnie Walker has announced his retirement from BBC Radio 2 at the end of October due to his terminal illness.

The DJ was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an inflation of the lungs, and since January 2024 he has been presenting his radio shows from his Dorset home. Walker, who is being cared for by his wife Tiggy Jarvis, confirmed his departure on Sunday 6 October's edition of Sounds of the 70s.

Read more: BBC Radio 2 DJ Johnnie Walker retires due to terminal illness (The Independent, 3-min read)

He told listeners: "The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult. So I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end after 58 years. And so I’ll be doing my last Sounds of the 70s on 27 October."

BBC Radio disc jockey Johnnie Walker in a radio studio, UK, 23rd November 1971.  (Photo by P. Floyd/Daily Express/Getty Images)
Johnnie Walker, pictured in 1971, has had a prolific career in radio, first starting out on pirate radio before he joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 and becoming a mainstay for Radio 2 since 1998. (Getty Images)

Walker has had a prolific career in radio, first starting out on pirate radio before he joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 where he hosted shows on Saturdays, then in the weekday mornings, and later weekday early afternoons. After a dispute with the BBC over the music he played, Walker moved to America where he continued to work in radio until he returned to the UK five years later.

His career took him onto local radio, BBC Radio 5, and a return to BBC Radio 1 before he joined BBC Radio 2 in 1998. During this time, Walker also underwent treatment for cancer in the early 2000s and cared for his wife when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and they are both patrons for the Carers UK charity.

He has presented his Sounds of the 70s show on Sunday afternoons and The Radio 2 Rock Show on Friday nights since 2018. It's undeniable, then, that Walker has been a huge part of radio in the UK.

What are some of your fondest memories of Johnnie Walker and his career over the years? Share your thoughts on this form and we'll publish a selection of our favourite in the coming days.