BBC Radio 2 legend Johnnie Walker announces retirement from station amid pulmonary fibrosis battle

Walker, 79, is known to listeners as the voice of Sounds Of The 70s and The Rock Show on BBC Radio 2. However, he has announced that he will step down as presenter for both shows at the end of the month.

It comes as his health continues to deteriorate due to a terminal battle with pulmonary fibrosis - a scarring of the lungs - which he was diagnosed with earlier this year. During his show on Sunday, October 6, Walker read aloud a letter from a listener whose father was an avid fan fan of the show but passed away due to the same medical condition.

He told listeners: "Now, that leads me to be making a very sad announcement. The struggles I’ve had with doing the show and trying to sort of keep up a professional standard suitable for Radio 2 has been getting more and more difficult, hence my little jokes about Puffing Billy, so I’ve had to make the decision that I need to bring my career to an end."

Walker played the track ‘Miss You’ from The Rolling Stones after his announcement, adding: “Now this week in 1978, the Rolling Stones were special guests on America’s Saturday Night Live TV show and they appeared in a couple of sketches and performed three tracks from their latest album, Some Girls. Well, one of the tracks on the album seems quite suitable at the moment.”

The BBC has announced that his Sounds Of The 70s show will be taken over by Bob Harris, while The Rock Show will be hosted by Shaun Keaveny from the end of the month. Walker’s last episode of The Rock Show will air on October 25, while his final instalment of Sounds Of The 70s will air on the station two days later.

Helen Thomas, head of BBC Radio 2, described Walker as a “broadcasting legend”, adding: "Everyone at Radio 2, and I’m sure his millions of listeners, would like to thank Johnnie for entertaining us for so many decades with his brilliantly crafted shows. He will be much missed on the airwaves and by his listeners, who have adored listening to his shows over the years."

It comes after his wife Tiggy said that Walker, who records his shows from his Dorset home due to his poor health rendering him housebound, revealed that he had been told that his illness was now terminal. On an episode of the BBC Sounds show ‘Walker and Walker: Johnnie and Tiggy’, Tiggy said that doctors told the radio legend that he should “prepare to go at any moment”.