Six hour celebration of Steve Wright for Radio 2

The network that shunted him off weekdays for younger talent is now reflecting on his broadcasting life…

Radio 2 will be paying tribute to their undervalued late talent Steve Wright later this month on what would have been his 70th birthday. Across three programmes, listeners will be able to hear the celebration of the life and career of the legendary broadcaster, who sadly passed away in February.

Vernon Kay presents Steve Wright Remembered, a two-hour special in which his friends from the worlds of entertainment, broadcasting and beyond, pay tribute to Steve and share their memories of the funny and generous man they knew. Contributors include David Cameron, Richard Curtis, Dawn French, Emma Freud, Barry Gibb, Peter Kay, Billy Ocean, and Will Young.

“Steve Wright was The Don of UK radio, the master of his craft and an absolute perfectionist, researching each guest meticulously to ensure he had the right question at the right time. He put his guests at ease and, by doing so, teased out never heard before anecdotes and facts from them. Steve was always putting smiles on the faces of his guests as well as his listeners, so it’s an honour to present this celebratory programme, where we’ll hear tributes from some of the Big Show’s most famous guests.” –  Vernon Kay

Also, a live programme, What Steve Meant To Me …A Listeners’ Special, with Liza Tarbuck, will allow listeners to share their fond memories of Steve as they look back and remember his many shows from across the decades. Some will have had wedding or anniversary dedications read out by him on Love Songs, others will have grown up with him throughout their school years and remember his characters or special moments from Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 1 and Radio 2.

“Steve Wright was a broadcasting legend who broke fresh ground throughout his career, and remains an inspiration to us all. To celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday, we want to offer a salute to this unique man who spent so much of his life making sure everyone had a better day. We have stories from all sorts of people who knew and worked with him, and we’d love to hear yours. It promises to be a gorgeous show. See you there.” – Liza Tarbuck

Finally, Paul Gambaccini brings to air Steve Wright In His Own Words features Steve himself from the BBC archive talking about his career, the broadcasters who inspired him, and playing the records he loved. The programme features excerpts from Steve’s episode of the award-winning Radio Radio series which aired in 1986, plus a 2010 interview, much of it previously un-broadcast, for the Radio 2 series ‘Music in the Air: A History of Music Radio’.

Steve also reveals his early love for offshore pirate radio in the 1960s and his admiration for innovative DJ Kenny Everett and American music radio pioneers, such as Rick Dees and Scott Shannon who popularised the Zoo radio format. “Scott was the ultimate, he worked so hard in the studio,” Steve said… but so did Steve, through the many years when millions tuned into Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 1 and then, for 23 years, on Radio 2.

“I recognised in Steve one of the true ‘lifers’. Somebody who had dedicated his whole life to radio. He cared about it. And, of course, Steve just kept doing the work for decades. He never got tired of thinking of a new programme and when that programme was over, he started thinking about the next one. Radio was his life and that is why we are so pleased to salute the life of Steve Wright.” – Paul Gambaccini

Radio 2: A tribute to Steve Wright airs on Monday 26 August across three programmes from 2-8pm:

Steve Wright Remembered with Vernon Kay, 2-4pm

What Steve Meant To Me …A Listeners’ Special with Liza Tarbuck, 4-6pm

Steve Wright In His Own Words with Paul Gambaccin, 6-8pm