Broadcasting legend Bob Harris has announced he is leaving BBC Radio 2, weeks after revealing his prostate cancer has spread to his spine.

The DJ, who has been on the airwaves since 1970, told listeners he was "so sorry that my health issues are forcing me to step down, but I realised that I must concentrate now on getting myself well again".

Sarah Carson writes, “Radio 2 has been a quieter place for the past few months without it. Since April, Harris’s shows – Sounds of the 70s and Bob Harris Country – have been covered by stand-ins and special guests, so it was not a huge surprise to hear the news today that he is retiring from the BBC after 56 years due to ill health. But it is still incredibly sad.”

NOT many kids can boast that their grandad inter­viewed John Len­non and hung out with David Bowie, Elton John and Marc Bolan, as well as being best mates with Robert Plant.

But, as he approaches his 80th birth­day on Sat­urday, “Whis­per­ing” Bob Har­ris’s six grand­chil­dren can.

Bob interviewed Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Roger Daltry of The Who, Yungblud and Julian Lloyd Webber at the launch event for the hardback edition of “Buddy Holly: Words Of Love” – a book that celebrates the life of the late rock and roll musician and songwriter, Buddy Holly.

Here, Bob Harris shares his highlights of this year’s line-up and discusses the ongoing rise of country music in the UK…

“Forget the pale, male & stale image of old - the future of country music is bright and female.”

The presenter who announced Walker’s death on BBC Radio 2 last week says his warmth and adventurous spirit set the bar for broadcasting.

It’s just over a week since he compered the annual C2C country music festival and Bob Harris chuckles when Total TV Guide asks him about how hard liquor and a US singer-songwriter led to him getting his first ever tattoo, aged 77.

For over 35 years, broadcasting legend “Whispering” Bob Harris OBE has managed his line-up, built stadiums and training grounds and kept records of every single match played. On January 3rd 2024 Bob & Miles will broadcast the first weekly #Podcast charting the highs & lows of North London FC.

Broadcasting legend Bob Harris has told the Echo that an infamous event involving himself and punk icons the Sex Pistols is ‘water under the bridge’.

Bob was more than a little delighted to be interviewed for a feature in The Cricketer magazine this month.

A super interview and show preview with The Oxford Times ahead of Bob & Danny’s show at The New Theatre, Oxford on March 22nd 2022.

The whispering tones of Bob Harris meant the Old Grey Whistle Test was the iconic sound of a generation. And the man who interviewed Elton John, John Lennon, David Bowie and countless others isn't ready to settle down just yet.

19 August 2020: 60 years after it was first recorded, Ben E King’s iconic ‘Stand By Me’ is being re-recorded for a very special release.

“How can you not form a tight bond with the man who introduced you to the classiest singer songwriters, (from Neil Young to the young Elton and Jackson Browne) a man who then sells you country, with a passion so powerful you’d reckon one of the four mothers of his eight children would be called Tammy or Shania, and at least one of the kids would have a hyphen in their first name?”

The November 1973 issue of “Music Scene” magazine featured privileged access to the studios of BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test.

Bob Harris gave a tour and interview to journalist Rodney Marlowe accompanied by photographer Dezo Hoffman.