Music fans from across the world are expected to gather for the funeral of JOHN PEEL today.
Members of the public have been invited to attend the service at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds this afternoon (November 12).
A private service will take place afterwards and is held for family and friends.
Peel recently died of a heart attack, aged 65.
The broadcasting legend, who had a career spanning over 40 years, was on holiday in Peru when he was taken ill.
Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said Peel was a “broadcasting legend”, while musicians offered their words of condolence.
Manic Street Preachers singer James Dean Bradfield said that he’d been a huge influence.
He said: “It was because of him I got to hear some of the most obscure but influential music I ever heard. He was a lifeline to hearing music I would never have heard otherwise. The service he provided was getting to hear music that you couldn’t buy in Cardiff. He was a portal to a whole new world.”
Fellow Welshman Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals described Peel as “very open-minded”.
He said: “He was very inclusive of all kinds of music, very open-minded, and introduced a lot of diverse music to the public. He championed Welsh language music and for years was the only DJ on national radio who was willing to embrace it. He was very wary of trends such as Britpop, he was introducing people to drum ‘n’ bass and techno, things that were going on outside of the media.”
Blur’s Damon Albarn said: “John Peel’s patronage was for me, like countless other musicians, one of the most significant things that happened to us in our careers. The world is going to be a poorer place with his sudden departure. I will miss him deeply. I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to his lovely family. John’s memory will never be forgotten because he had the spirit of music in him.”
Peel was born in Heswall near Chester and started his radio career in Dallas, Texas.
Throughout the 1960s he worked at a number of radio stations across the US, before returning to Radio London in 1967.
Over a career spanning 40 years Peel consistently championed new music, and in 1994 was given the NME Godlike Genius award for his services to music.