04/11/2004

Open funeral for radio legend Peel

The funeral of veteran Radio 1 DJ John Peel will be open to the public, it has been announced today.

The open service at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, will be followed by a private ceremony for family members.

The 65-year-old father of four, who was the BBC's longest-serving radio broadcaster, suffered a fatal heart attack on October 25 while holidaying with his wife Sheila in Peru.

Peel, who recently celebrated his 40th year on the air, was at the vanguard of breaking new music on the airwaves throughout his career. With Radio 1 since 1967, he was the first DJ to give punk airplay exposure.

He was highly respected in the music industry and, according to his BBC website, "almost anyone who is anyone in the world of music has recorded a session for Peel".

In 1993, Peel won the Sony Award for Broadcaster of the Year and the following year NME named him 'Godlike Genius' of music.

The service St Edmundsbury Cathedral will begin at 1pm on November 12.

(gmcg)

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