Anthony Kenneth Blackburn OBE (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and television presenter, whose career spans 60 years.

Blackburn was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1[4] at its launch, on 30 September 1967, and has had several stints working for the corporation.

[8] 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.

[14] In a 2024 interview with Vernon Kay, Blackburn revealed that film of this scene had actually been recorded the previous day.

[citation needed] Blackburn recalled in 2014: "My job was to entertain and tell corny jokes, not have opinions or talk politics.

It was largely due to him that "I'm Still Waiting" by Diana Ross, which was initially just an album track, was released as a single in the UK in 1971 and reached number one.

He was a regular host of Top of the Pops for more than a decade and he appeared with fellow DJs Noel Edmonds and Kenny Everett on the 500th show special where he performed the spoken part of "Won't Somebody Dance with Me" and then danced with singer Lynsey de Paul.

[citation needed] In 1968, he fronted his own show, Time For Blackburn, produced by Southern Television for the ITV network.

"[16] He was in a group called Tony Blackburn and the Rovers which at one point included Al Stewart; they performed in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas.

This version of the Gamble and Huff song was re-discovered by Northern soul fans when it was pressed up as a white label[19] and became a hit on the scene's dancefloors.

Blackburn had a difficult relationship with fellow DJ John Peel, whom he recalled saying: "'People don’t realise how much you’ve done for soul music', and I said: 'I bet you’d never say that publicly', and he said: 'Oh no!

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1992, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel while broadcasting his Capital Gold radio show at the company's studios in London.

[citation needed] In 2002, Blackburn was the winner of the first series of the British reality TV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

[23][24] In 2004, Blackburn re-joined BBC Radio London, originally taking over a two-hour timeslot on Monday evening from 20:00 to 22:00.

Blackburn began presenting the Breakfast show for Bedfordshire-based Classic Gold Digital in late 2003.

Noel Edmonds, whose company owned a majority shareholding, thought Blackburn would soon return to broadcasting for the station.

On 6 November 2010, Blackburn replaced Dale Winton as the regular host of BBC Radio 2's Pick of the Pops programme.

[31] From 2007 to 2020, he presented a weekly three-hour show, Tony's Blackburn's Playlist every Sunday from 16:00 to 19:00 on KMFM in Kent.

Blackburn has won two lifetime achievement awards from the Radio Academy, the second of which was to mark his 50 years of broadcasting.

[34] On 24 February 2016, Blackburn was dismissed by the BBC in an announcement from Lord Hall, the corporation's Director General, stating that the contents of documents from the early 1970s were in conflict with evidence Blackburn had given to Dame Janet Smith's inquiry into Jimmy Savile's sexual abuse at BBC premises.

Smith found Blackburn's denial that he was interviewed by light entertainment head Bill Cotton and Sir Brian Neill QC unsatisfactory.

The show is now broadcast live on Saturday mornings between 06:00 and 08:00, and he now also presents his Golden Hour music programme on Sunday nights.

The shows centre around Blackburn and Wilson trying to unravel long-held myths and rumours about pop stars' lives and their music.

The first episode centred around whether Debbie Harry had really been in a car with serial killer Ted Bundy, as she had previously claimed.

[49] On 2 January 2023, in the month in which he celebrated his 80th birthday, Blackburn presented a two-hour slot, "Your Soul Mate"[50] for BBC Radio 2, sharing his favourite genre of music and his personal memories associated with the playlist.

[56][57] Blackburn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.