About Tony Blackburn
Anthony Kenneth Blackburn OBE is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter, whose career spans 60 years.
Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, initially broadcasting on the BBC Light Programme.
Blackburn was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 at its launch, on 30 September 1967, and has had several stints working for the corporation. He has also worked for Capital London, Classic Gold Digital and BBC Local Radio, and currently BBC Radio 2 and British Forces Broadcasting Service. He has also had a singing career. As a DJ, Blackburn is known for his championing of Motown and soul music as well as his popular presenting style.
In 2002, Blackburn was the first winner of the British reality TV series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Blackburn was born in Guildford, Surrey, on 29 January 1943, but in 1946 his family moved to Poole, Dorset, where his youngest sister, Jacqueline, was born. His sister was born suffering from polio and was unable to walk from birth. Blackburn's father, Kenneth Fleming Blackburn, was a GP and his mother, Pauline Cubitt , was a nurse. He was educated at Castle Court School in Corfe Mullen, near Poole in Dorset. He gained entry to Millfield in Somerset on a sports scholarship and captained the school's cricket team.
Blackburn left before taking any examinations, but gained O-levels following private tuition, and enrolled for an HND course in business studies at Bournemouth Technical College.
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