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Bob Harris | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Harris in 2012 at theConcert at the Kings, Wiltshire | |
| Born | Robert Brinley Joseph Harris (1946-04-11)11 April 1946 (age 79) Northampton, England |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 8 |
| Website | bobharris |
Robert Brinley Joseph HarrisOBE (born 11 April 1946), popularly known as"Whispering Bob" Harris, is an English music presenter. He was a host of theBBC2 music programmeThe Old Grey Whistle Test from 1972 to 1979, and was a co-founder of the listings magazineTime Out, co-editing until the early part of 1969. He has presentedThe Country Show onBBC Radio 2 on Thursday nights since April 1999, andSounds of the 70s on Sunday afternoons since November 2024, replacingJohnnie Walker.
Harris has been broadcasting on the BBC for 50 years and has been recognised with theAmericana Music Association of America Trailblazer Award, a UK Heritage Award and aMOJO Medal, as well as his OBE for services to broadcasting.
Born on 11 April 1946 inNorthampton, England, Harris first followed in his father's footsteps and joinedNorthamptonshire Police as acadet for two years. Harris's father was fromPontardawe inSouth Wales.[1][2][3][failed verification]
Rugby was a childhood passion for Harris, who played at school and later at county level. Interviewed in 2023, he said, "I did have a couple ofconcussions played but not the 25 people have said." He played for the Midlands and aspired to play forEngland team, but his interest in music took over.[4]
He then helped foundTime Out magazine, as co-editor. Years later, he still refers to himself as "a journalist who can broadcast".[5]
Harris presentedThe Old Grey Whistle Test onBBC2 from 1972 until December 1979.[6] His first appearance on the show was as chair of a debate on the Night Assemblies Bill, based on his experience as a journalist and at the invitation of producerRichard Williams. Shortly afterwards he was invited to be the main presenter. His velvety voice and quiet delivery earned him his enduring nickname "Whispering Bob". Hishippie-style beard and laid-back presentation made him a target forparody, including byEric Idle on the 1970s BBC comedy showRutland Weekend Television.[5]
Harris later became notorious among the younger generation for distancing himself on air fromRoxy Music's first performance on the show and deriding theNew York Dolls as "mock rock".[7][8] In the summer of 1974,Malcolm McLaren andVivienne Westwood included Harris ("or the 'Sniffing Whistler' as we know him") on a "Hates" list on their "You're going to wake up one morning and find out which side of the bed you've been lying on" T-shirt.[9][page needed] In early 1977, atthe Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day),Sex Pistols fan and subsequent bass playerSid Vicious threatened Harris over whether the Pistols would appear on theOld Grey Whistle Test.[10][non-primary source needed]
In 1981, Harris moved toBBC Radio Oxford, presenting the weekday afternoon show from 15:00–17:00, taking over fromTimmy Mallett. Harris remained there until 1984. He then joined London'sLBC radio station, presenting a weekly half-hour music review and also joinedGWR, where he did shows on Saturday lunchtimes and Sunday afternoons.
From October 1984, Harris presented a Saturday evening show onNorwich'sRadio Broadland, and the Sunday afternoon show onHereward FM inPeterborough. At the same time, he was still continuing with his half-hour music review on LBC and was recording shows for GWR. In 1986, he was offered theWeekend Nightline phone-in on LBC every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 pm until 1 am, which he hosted until 1989. He was heard onBFBS from 1986 to 1998 and on the UKIndependent Local Radio sustaining service,The Superstation.
Harris rejoinedBBC Radio 1 in 1989, standing in forRichard Skinner for two weeks on the weekday midnight to 2 am slot, before being offered his own weekly show on Sunday nights from 11 pm to 2 am later that year following the death ofRoger Scott. He had originally been on Radio 1 from 1970–1974, hosting the Monday night edition of 'Sounds of the 70s'.
Harris then took over the weekday midnight to 2 am slot from April 1990, which then became midnight to 4 am when Radio 1 started broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 May 1991.[11]
His programme on Radio 1 came to an end in October 1993 whenMatthew Bannister took charge of the station, although he continued to present documentaries for the station for some time after.
In summer 1994, Harris moved toBBC GLR, presenting a three-hour Saturday night show from 10 pm to 1 am, then additionally on Monday to Wednesday evenings from 8 pm to midnight. He later left the Saturday night show to concentrate on BBC GLR's Monday–Wednesday evening shows.[citation needed]
In spring 1997, Harris returned to the national airwaves, this time onBBC Radio 2, where he took up an 11 pm to 1 am Saturday night slot. He still continued to present on GLR, but at this stage he quit the Monday to Wednesday evening shows and presented a Saturday afternoon show from 2 to 6 pm.
Harris eventually quit GLR in late 1998 as he took over another show for Radio 2,Bob Harris Country, (previouslyDavid Allan'sCountry Club) on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 pm, from 8 April 1999, and his Saturday night show then went out from 10 pm to 1 am. From April 2006, his Saturday show moved to an 11 pm to 2 am slot, and moved back another hour from 4 April 2010, meaning it aired early Sunday mornings from midnight to 3 am. From October 2014 until January 2017, the show was on from 3 am to 6 am on Sundays. In February 2017, his Sunday show moved back to midnight to 3 am. However, on 26 March 2017, Harris presented his last weekend Sunday early morning show on Radio 2 due to major changes to the weekend schedule. The final song played wasWhen You Come to the End of a Lollipop byMax Bygraves.[citation needed]
On 9 January 2022, Harris started a weekly show onBoom Radio, which explored how songs link together with other tracks. The hour-long programme was broadcast on Sunday nights from 9 pm and repeated on Wednesdays. The series ended its run on 27 February.[12][13]
On 10 January 2022, Harris announced he was returning to theSounds of the 70s programme after more than 50 years away by sitting in forJohnnie Walker on the episodes to be broadcast on Radio 2 on 16 and 23 January. He also sat in for Walker for four shows in January 2023.[14] He currently presentsThe Country Show on Thursdays on BBC Radio 2 at 9 pm.[15] He celebrated his 25th anniversary as host of the country show in 2024.
On 6 October 2024,Johnnie Walker announced that Harris would take over as host of Radio 2'sSounds of the 70s in November, with Walker leaving the show due to illness after 15 years.
"At a time when media is ruled by the loud, the crass and the cruel, Harris is the anti-Cowell: a soft-spoken but fiercely witty presence, whose velvet delivery is as much a part of British rock culture asRoger Daltrey's stutter or the rolled letter "r" inJohnny Rotten's invective."
In addition to his Radio 2 programmes, in 2002 Harris was a presenter on the newly launched digital stationBBC Radio 6 Music, presenting a Sunday evening show from 5 to 8 pm. He left 6 Music in 2004. He went on to present a new show on Radio 2, which broadcast on Friday nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 3 am. He was replaced in this slot byMark Lamarr, but returned to it temporarily, when Lamarr left the BBC at the end of 2010. The end of the Friday show has allowed Harris to concentrate more on producing one-off shows such as theMaple Leaf Revolution under the auspices of the Whispering Bob Broadcasting Company.
Harris was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in 2003 when he was surprised byMichael Aspel at BBCBroadcasting House.[citation needed]
Harris has presented theC2C: Country to Country festival live fromThe O2 Arena in London every year since its inception in 2013 and simultaneously broadcasts overBBC Radio 2 Country which was first established in 2015, the same year when Harris was given his own stage to present at the festival. This stage, the Under the Apple Tree stage, formed the basis for his own Under the Apple Tree festival which will first take place in 2016.[17]
Harris has been credited byJohn Thomson as the inspiration for hisThe Fast Show character Louis Balfour, who comperes "Jazz Club"[18] and whose softly spoken delivery echoes Harris' "unshakeable enthusiasm" onThe Old Grey Whistle Test.[19]
In 2018, Harris made a cameo appearance inTom Harper's country music drama filmWild Rose.[20]
In 2018, Harris joined 26 other celebrities atMetropolis Studios, to perform the original Christmas song "Rock with Rudolph", written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was created in aid ofGreat Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally on independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018. The music video debuted exclusively withThe Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing onGood Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on theiTunes pop chart.[21][22]
In 2023, Harris began presenting on thefree-to-air 1960s music channelThat's 60s.[23]
In April 2025, Harris appeared as a contestant, paired with expert Margie Cooper, on BBC'sCelebrity Antiques Road Trip.[24]
Harris has eight children and six granddaughters. Harris married Trudie Myerscough[citation needed] who is also his manager, in 1991. She is the mother of his three youngest children.[25] Harris lives inSteventon, Oxfordshire.[26]
In 2007, Harris was diagnosed withprostate cancer, for which he was treated withhormone therapy andradiotherapy.[27]
In May 2019 it was announced that Harris would take a break from his Radio 2 presenting for a while, after suffering anaortic dissection. He returned to Radio 2 on 19 September 2019.[28] He is an ambassador for the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust.[4]
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