Annie Nightingale

Annie Nightingale, MBE, is a legendary broadcaster, still trail-blazing after 40 years on the air. She brought a completely new perspective to Radio 1 when she became the first female DJ to join the station and her husky, confidential tones can still be heard there today.

In 1996, Annie was viciously mugged in Cuba leaving her with serious injuries, but a long convalescence allowed her to work on her anecdote-rich autobiography Wicked Speed (Sidgwick & Jackson 1999).

Annie was awarded the MBE for her services to Broadcasting in 2001. In 2007 she was nominated for the Broadcasters' Broadcaster Award and in 2008, Annie won the John Peel Award For Oustanding Contribution To Music Radio, awarded by the PRS Radio Academy.

Like her friend and colleague the late John Peel, Annie seeks out more obscure and cutting edge music, though she is not cut off from the mainstream. She was an early supporter of bands such as Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk and she champions electronic and breakbeat music, earning her the nickname 'Queen of Breaks'. She has been awarded Best Radio Show for four years in a row at The International Breakbeat Awards where in 2009 she was also awarded Outstanding Contribution to Breakbeat.  Annie is now entering the world of film music supervision and film producing, having recently optioned a book by the best selling author Geoff Dyer.