John Peel, 1939-2004.
"Are teenage dreams so hard to beat?"

John Peel's favourite song, Teenage Kicks, is also my favourite song. I've also listened to John Peel since 1977, longer than I can believe. I've met and spent time with one or two famous people in my time, but the only person I've actually ever genuinely WANTED to meet is, was, John Peel. His Radio 1 shows, and in more recent years the Home Truths shows, have been as much a part of my life as members of my family, and as such it's hard not to think of John as being "one of the family". My musical tastes for the past 25+ years have been steered and enriched by what John introduced me to.

I found out about his death last night during my wedding dinner. My reaction was one of shock, as if I'd heard that a good friend had died suddenly. I will, sure as hell, therefore never forget the day John died.

And to think he was half way through writing his autobiography, a work I was looking forward to reading with tremendous anticipation. At the end of his last Home Truths show a couple of weeks back he said (paraphrasing) "Well, I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks to rest and get on with the book". Rest well, John. You'll be as missed as you were respected. And it actually hurts.

Thanks John for everything you've done for all of us.

My thoughts, naturally, are with his wife Sheila and their children.

Please visit his homepage at BBC Radio 1 for tributes, and please please say few words in his memory.