TRIBUTES last night flooded in for veteran broadcaster John Peel, who has died aged 65.
The Wirral-born DJ championed some of Britain's most influential musicians and, through his radio shows and Peel Sessions helped fuel genres ranging from reggae and hip-hop to punk.
His show still ran three nights a week and, in 1998, he became the presenter of Radio 4's Home Truths, which scooped four Sony Radio awards in 1999.
Peel suffered a heart attack on Monday night while on holiday in Cuzco, Peru, with his wife Sheila.
Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt last night said: "John Peel was a broadcasting legend. I am deeply saddened by his death, as are all who work at Radio 1.
"John's influence has towered over the development of popular music for nearly four decades and his contribution to modern music and music culture is immeasurable."
Radio 2 DJ Janice Long, a former Radio 1 colleague and friend of Peel, added: "John was incredibly passionate about everything he did - not just music, but his family too.
"He enjoyed an incredible career, touching many people's lives - everyone has heard of John Peel. A maverick in the radio industry, he will be a great loss."
The son of a Liverpool cotton importer, Peel was born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, in Heswall, shortly before war broke out in 1939.
He attended Shrewsbury School and, after national service in the Royal Artillery between 1957 and 1959, he took up a job as a cotton thrower in a mill in Rochdale.
But it was a trip to America in 1960 that ensured his path to the music hall of fame.
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