Nightingale had befriended The Beatles during the 1960s, and her association with the band helped her gain an audition with BBC Radio 1. She became the station’s first female DJ, as well as its longest-serving host.
“I was very sad to hear that my friend Annie Nightingale passed away last week,” McCartney wrote in a tribute posted on his official website and socials. “She was such a special woman, full of knowledge about the music scene, with a great spirit and a fabulous sense of humour. Having known her for many years, we both watched the music scene change and develop.”
The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend also posted tributes to Nightingale on their band’s official website.
“More than anyone I know, or have known, Annie was a 100% real music fan, the real deal,” Daltrey wrote. “Her radio shows probably did more for music than the total output of BBC Radio 2 since the late ’60s. A wonderful person and a great friend, always full of life. What a woman.”
Added Townshend, “Very sad to hear Annie Nightingale has finally gone to the DJ Broadcast in the sky. She was a close friend for many years, and always very clued in about music—new and old.”
He added, “I was always pleased to meet up with her for an interview or a cup of tea. She will be missed by many people, and the music world will be poorer without her. Love to her family from me and my family.”
Annie Nightingale was the first person to interview Paul McCartney after John Lennon’s death.
Annie Nightingale once revealed that she was the first person to interview Paul McCartney after John Lennon‘s death. Nightingale’s death was announced yesterday (January 12) in a statement by her family. She was aged 83, NME reports.
In a resurfaced interview on The Beatles podcast I Am The Eggpod from 2018, Nightingale shared that she was working on the music TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test when Lennon was shot and killed in 1980.
She went on to say the show lined up a special programme that night to pay tribute to the singer and McCartney surprised her by phoning in during show.
“It was frantic because we were trying to find people who would come in and talk about John and they just wouldn’t,” she said. “People were too upset, most people were too upset to talk about him.”
During the show, Nightingale said they were trying “to reflect how people were feeling but at the same time be professional, be a broadcaster, be professional and don’t get emotional about it on air, wait until later”. Then in the middle of the programme a producer appeared in the studio and told Nightingale that someone was on the phone for her.
“He said, ‘Paul’s on the phone and he wants to speak to you.’ I had no idea who he meant. I thought, ‘Why is he telling me about somebody on the phone in the middle of this really difficult programme?’… I said, ‘Paul who?’” she said.
Nightingale went on: “He wanted to say thank you on behalf of Linda (his late wife Linda McCartney) and himself and Yoko (Ono) and George (Harrison) and Ringo (Starr).”
The British DJ and television presenter passed away at her home in London on Thursday (January 11) “after a short illness”, a statement from her family.
“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,” the message read.
