White Rabbit pays tribute to Nightingale following DJ’s death 

White Rabbit has paid tribute to Annie Nightingale, the first female presenter on BBC Radio 1, who has died at the age of 83. 

Lee Brackstone, publisher, said: “We are saddened to hear the news that Annie Nightingale has passed away. Without Annie’s taste, evangelism and her skills as a broadcaster, DJ and journalist, the history of British popular culture in the late 20th century would look very different.   

“From punk to acid house to trap, Annie continued to champion new, vital sounds and the ethos of the underground. Her spirit was relentlessly mischievous and searching and her legacy endures over many generations and across so many different pop culture tribes. Annie’s memoir Hey, Hi, Hello was one of the first White Rabbit publications back in the summer of 2020: always the pioneer, ever the inspiration.”   

Her agent Gordon Wise added: "I worked on book projects with Annie for 25 years, first as her editor and then as her agent. Her perspective was always fresh, brilliant and acute. She was a legend who had walked with legends, but wore it lightly. Everything was about the future. She had a delicious laugh, was always curious about people, especially young people, and was deeply loyal to those who were loyal to her. And having begun her career as a writer, was overjoyed to publish her last book with White Rabbit."

A statement attributed to her family on Friday said she "passed away yesterday at her home in London after a short illness". 

"Annie was a pioneer, trailblazer and an inspiration to many. Her impulse to share that enthusiasm with audiences remained undimmed after six decades of broadcasting on BBC TV and radio globally. 

"Never underestimate the role model she became. Breaking down doors by refusing to bow down to sexual prejudice and male fear gave encouragement to generations of young women who, like Annie, only wanted to tell you about an amazing tune they had just heard. 

"Watching Annie do this on television in the 1970s, most famously as a presenter on the BBC music show ’The Old Grey Whistle Test’, or hearing her play the latest breakbeat techno on Radio One is testimony to someone who never stopped believing in the magic of rock ’n’ roll." 

They added that a celebration of her life would take place at a memorial service in the spring.