Peter Waters Dingley (30 March 1945 – 31 December 2024), known professionally as Johnnie Walker, was an English radio disc jockey and broadcaster.

[3] His father sold electroplating equipment for car parts at W. Canning & Co. in Birmingham, and his mother Mary Dingley was a Conservative Councillor in Solihull from 1979–1991.

He worked as a garage manager's apprentice,[7] studied for a City and Guilds qualification in motor mechanics at Gloucester Technical College, and aspired to be a car salesman, before becoming a DJ in bars and ballrooms.

He was also reprimanded for criticising on-air "Give a Little Love" by the Bay City Rollers, then at the height of their popularity, describing them as "musical garbage".

[11][12] During this time, he worked for radio stations KSAN in San Francisco,[13] KPFA in Berkeley, California, in January 1981,[14] and WHFS in Bethesda, Maryland.

[15] Walker returned to the UK in the early 1980s and in 1982 presented Radio West's evening show The Modern World.

In July 1988, Walker was briefly heard on Richard Branson's syndicated service The Superstation which provided overnight programming to some ILR stations.

[citation needed] In 1990, Walker joined newly-launched BBC Radio 5, presenting This Family Business three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 am to 12.30 pm.

[citation needed] In early 1996 Walker joined London talk station LBC, presenting the weekend programme from 6 to 10 am.

[citation needed] In early 1999, Walker's show was temporarily suspended after he became the subject of a tabloid exposé concerning his cocaine use.

[18] He was temporarily suspended by the BBC when the drug allegations were published in the News of the World in April 1999 and was subsequently fined £2,000 for possession of cocaine.

He ended his show by stating that he was beginning treatment and would be taking time off to recover, and played "Bridge over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel.

On Thursday 24 July 2003, the BBC announced that Noel Edmonds would join Radio 2 to present Drivetime for eight weeks.

At the beginning of Monday 6 October's Drivetime show, Maconie played Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" for Walker, said he was "doing well", and that he was due to return at the end of the year.

[20][21] In February 2006 it was announced that Walker was to retire as host of Radio 2 Drivetime and take over from Ed Stewart on Sunday afternoons 5–7 pm.

[citation needed] He took over the Sunday afternoon programme in April 2006 and continued to deputise for Terry Wogan on the Breakfast show.

A book published in 2006, Johnnie Walker – Cruisin' The Formats, described his radio work over forty years.

At Easter 2009 he was also part of "Pirate BBC Essex" programmes to celebrate 45 years since the launch of Radio Caroline.

[citation needed] On 5 April 2009, Walker took over a Sunday afternoon (3 – 5 pm) show on Radio 2 called Sounds of the 70s.

[citation needed] In January 2019 it was announced that Walker would be absent from The Rock Show and Sounds of the 70s "for a number of weeks", to receive treatment for a heart condition.

Rod Stewart sent an audio message saying "I have to thank you my man, thank you from the bottom of my heart for playing not only my songs, but the Faces and just about every other rock band in the world on your wonderful show over the years."

[29] After being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an inflammation of the lungs, Walker presented his radio shows from his home in Dorset.

His death was announced on air on BBC Radio 2 by Bob Harris at the start of his New Year's Eve Sounds of the 70s afternoon show.