Johnnie Walker has signed off his final episode as the host of BBC Radio 2’s The Rock Show with a touching farewell message.
The veteran presenter announced his plans to retire from radio after 58 years due to ill health, having previously been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
According to the NHS, the condition causes the lungs to become scarred and makes breathing more difficult.
As he began his show, Walker told listeners he was “taking over” and would be choosing some of his favourite rock anthems to play.
His first track was “Sweet Jane” by the Velvet Underground’s 1970 album Loaded, and ended with The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, which he described as a “classic”.
Walker also played Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats’ “I Need Never Get Old” during the hour-long episode.
Referencing the title, he said: “if only that were true, I wouldn’t be giving up The Rock Show.”
Each week the programme asks guests to name their “rock god” – Walker picked Bruce Springsteen, saying he was a “lovely man”.
As he signed off, he encouraged listeners to tune into Shaun Keaveny, who will take over as host of The Rock Show from 1 November.
“I always say at the end the show thanks to Liz ‘Queen of Rock’ Barnes, she is the ‘Queen of Rock’, and she has put in so much work, putting this rock show together, crafting it beautifully, and mixing up old songs and new songs and I know you’ve appreciated the old and the new together,” Walker said.
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He added that his producer had done a “magnificent job” and said “thank you” to her.
Walker’s wife Tiggy, who is also his carer, shared an image of him on social media preparing for the show, wearing a big curly wig and pink shirt.
She wrote: “For his final Rock Show Johnnie thought he’d dress for the occasion…”
Walker’s final episode of his other show, Sounds of the 70s, will air this weekend. He will be replaced on the programme by former The Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris from 3 November.
The Birmingham-born DJ began in pirate radio with Swinging Radio England in 1966 before moving to the offshore Radio Caroline.
He departed after the station closed for BBC Radio 1 in 1969, continuing until 1976 and later moving to San Francisco, where he recorded a weekly show broadcast on Radio Luxembourg.
In the early 1980s he returned to the BBC and has remained there ever since.
Additional reporting by Associated Press.