Alan Leslie Freeman MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff",[Note 1] was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting Pick of the Pops from 1961 to 2000.

[3] Freeman began his British career as a summer relief disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg and continued to present late evening programmes on the station until the early 1970s.

In 1960 he moved to the BBC Light Programme as presenter of the Records Around Five show, introduced by his signature tune, "At the Sign of the Swingin' Cymbal", written by Brian Fahey.

[5] He presented a music magazine-style television show for the BBC in 1968, All Systems Freeman, which aired for several weeks on Friday evening, but despite good reviews did not return for a second series.

[citation needed] In April 1972, he joined the daily presenters on Radio 1, taking over the 3–5 pm show from Terry Wogan.

In addition he lent his name to several rock and classical compilation albums, the best-known being By Invitation Only (1976), a collection of material sourced from artists on the Atlantic label.

[6] Freeman left the BBC to work for Capital Radio from 1979 to 1989, presenting the Top 40 of the 1970s on 31 December 1979 under the revived Pick of the Pops name.

This run of Pick of the Pops ended on 27 December 1992 but he continued to host The Rock Show until 23 October 1993, when he, with other long-serving DJs, left the station as it was revamped by controller Matthew Bannister.

In December 1993, for four weeks he presented the Alternative Chart Show Top 30 as part of a trial one-off Restricted Service Licence (RSL) broadcast by XFM in London.

A lifetime love of classical music and particularly opera was developed in the show Their Greatest Bits, which resulted in another compilation CD on the BBC label.

Throughout his career, he was known especially for his jingles, which integrated short bursts of classical music and hard rock segued together, as well as his catchphrases, which included "Hi there, pop pickers!"

[14] In an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Great Lives broadcast in January 2024, Freeman was the choice of Simon Mayo.

He lived at Brinsworth House, a retirement home for actors and performers run by the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund in Twickenham, from 2000 until his death.

[21] His funeral took place at South West Middlesex Crematorium on 7 December 2006, and was attended by singer Kenny Lynch, his producer Phil Swern and DJs including Dave Lee Travis, Ed Stewart, Dave Cash, Paul McKenna, Nicky Campbell, Paul Gambaccini and his Radio One Top 40 successors Wes Butters, Simon Bates and Richard Skinner.