Tributes pour in after legendary BBC Radio 2 presenter dies

Tributes pour in after legendary BBC Radio 2 presenter dies

Legendary BBC Radio 2 presenter Brian Hayes has died aged 87, it has been announced.

The presenter's five-decade career saw him lead some of the most influential radio output of his era, including the phone-in show on LBC radio. Hayes was born in Perth in Australia before he moved to Britain in the early 1970s.

He joined Capital radio as a producer when the station launched in 1973 then moved into a presenting role, the Mirror reports. He made his name when he started to present the morning interview and phone-in show on LBC.

From 1990 on, Hayes could be heard on various stations including a presenting spot on appeared on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show throughout 1992, but left the show at the year's end due apparently to unpopularity - being replaced by late Irish broadcasting legend Terry Wogan in January 1993.

He hosted weekly phone-in show Hayes over Britain on BBC Radio 2 throughout the 90s, for which he won a Gold Sony Radio Award for 'Best Phone-In', and during his tenure also sat in for Jimmy Young and his successor Jeremy Vine until 2006.

He worked on BBC Radio 5 Live until 2006, and BBC Radio 4, on programmes such as Not Today, Thank You. During the mid-2000s, he presented Friday nights on BBC Radio 5 Live and on Sunday nights returned to his legendary role at LBC.

Hayes died at the age of 87 on November 30, 2025.