Andy Kershaw

Andrew Kershaw was born on 9 November 1959 in Littleborough, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), near Rochdale. His father, John "Jack" Kershaw, later became headmaster of a comprehensive school in Rochdale, and his mother, Eileen Kershaw (nee Acton), became headmistress of a nursery school in Oldham. His sister Liz, born a year earlier, also became a BBC radio DJ. His parents instilled in him the value of education and self-improvement. As a party trick at the age of two he could name the whiskered military men pictured in his father's First World War history books, though he later said he felt more warmth from his grandparents, whose home was a home away from home.

Kershaw attended Hulme Grammar School in Oldham, taking A-levels in History, Economics and Spanish. At 14 he heard Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and fell for Dylan for life. He walked out of his Economics A-level halfway through to attend a Dylan concert and still achieved a Grade A. He went on to study politics at the University of Leeds from 1978, choosing it partly with an eye on the post of Entertainments Secretary. He won that full-time post in 1980 and booked Ian Dury, Dire Straits, the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop and Duran Duran, but failed to graduate. Leeds later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2005, two years after the University of East Anglia did the same in 2003.

After overseeing backstage labour at the Rolling Stones' 1982 Roundhay Park concert, Kershaw joined Radio Aire in Leeds as promotions manager and soon presented late-night alternative and blues shows. Made redundant in 1983, he became Billy Bragg's driver, tour manager and roadie. In 1984 producer Trevor Dann hired him as a presenter of BBC Two's Whistle Test, where he interviewed Bob Dylan and recorded the Ramones. In 1985 he co-presented the BBC's Live Aid coverage and joined BBC Radio 1, where he worked until 2000 alongside John Peel and producer John Walters.

His Radio 1 shows mixed country, blues, reggae, folk, African music and spoken word. He championed the Bhundu Boys, was the first to play Ali Farka Toure on mainstream national radio, and made specials around the world. From 1987 he also worked for Radio 4, reporting for From Our Own Correspondent, Today and The World Tonight from Rwanda (1994), Angola (1996), Sierra Leone (2001) and repeatedly from Haiti. On Channel 4 he presented episodes of Travelog (1990 to 1998).

At Radio 3 he co-presented World Routes with Lucy Duran (2000 to 2006) and hosted his own weekly show (2001 to 2007), making documentaries in North Korea (Songs of the Hermit Kingdom, 2003), Iran (2004) and Turkmenistan (Christmas in Ashgabat, 2005). He returned in 2011 with Music Planet, reported for The One Show from 2012 to 2019, covered Thailand's 2010 Red Shirt protests for The Independent, and presented The Kershaw Tapes on Radio 3 in September 2020. In later years he ran his own podcast.

Kershaw had a 17-year relationship with Juliette Banner, with whom he had a son, Sonny, and a daughter, Dolly. The family moved to the Isle of Man, where the relationship ended in 2006. He was close to his sister Liz throughout his life, and she cared for him publicly during his final illness. He was a lifelong Bob Dylan devotee and a keen boxing fan. In his last years he lived in Todmorden, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire.

Kershaw believed radio should challenge listeners, adopting his mentor John Walters' motto: "We're not here to give the public what it wants. We're here to give the public what it didn't know it wanted." He rejected musical categories, saying he "continued to ignore categories and mix it all up". In June 2005 he criticised Bob Geldof over the Live 8 line-up, which included few black performers and even fewer Africans.

Kershaw is remembered as the broadcaster who opened British ears to world music. Artists such as the Bhundu Boys, Ali Farka Toure, Youssou N'Dour and Toumani Diabate reached mainstream UK audiences partly through his championing. The Times called him "the BBC's ubiquitous musical anthropologist". He made programmes for five of the BBC's main national radio networks and combined music broadcasting with serious foreign reporting. Loudon Wainwright III recorded more than 60 live tracks for his BBC shows over 19 years.

Kershaw won his first gold Sony Radio Award in 1987, after his first year of broadcasting on Radio 1. He received an honorary doctorate of music from the University of East Anglia in July 2003 and an honorary degree from the University of Leeds in 2005. In March 2007 he was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, choosing "Hupenyu Hwangu" by the Bhundu Boys as his favourite track, the collected works of Ryszard Kapuscinski as his book, and "lots of toilet roll" as his luxury.

Kershaw's autobiography, No Off Switch, was published by Serpent's Tail in July 2011 and later reissued by Buster Press. It was praised by Stephen Fry, while Rachel Cooke in The Guardian gave it a negative review. He compiled the records Great Moments of Vinyl History (1988) and More Great Moments of Vinyl History (2004). His radio documentary Ghosts of Electricity (1998) identified the heckler who shouted "Judas!" at Bob Dylan in 1966.

After his relationship with Juliette Banner ended, a court on the Isle of Man issued a restraining order forbidding him to contact her. In October 2007 he was convicted of breaching it and of driving under the influence. In January 2008 he was sentenced to three months in prison for repeatedly breaching the order, and at the end of 2008 he received a six-month suspended sentence after a further breach. He said he had wanted to see his children, and he later described turning to drink and a period of homelessness. A BBC Radio 4 On the Ropes interview with him was cancelled in April 2009 over concerns for the privacy of his former partner and children. In No Off Switch he also wrote critically of John Peel, saying Peel "had no stomach whatsoever for a fight".

Tumours that severely limited his mobility were discovered in Kershaw's spine in August 2025, and in January 2026 he announced he had cancer and could not walk. He described himself as in good spirits and joked that he was determined not to die before Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Ant and Dec. His sister Liz said he worked to walk again and did. He died on the evening of Thursday 16 April 2026, aged 66, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. His family confirmed the death to the BBC the next day, and Radio 4's Last Word paid tribute with contributions from Billy Bragg and others. A private funeral took place in Leeds in May 2026, together with a memorial gig at the University of Leeds Refectory featuring Billy Bragg, Martin Carthy, Wreckless Eric and a video performance from Loudon Wainwright III.