Andrew Kershaw (9 November 1959 – 16 April 2026) was an English broadcaster, radio disc jockey (DJ), and journalist known for his interest in world music. He presented shows on BBC Radio 1 from 1985 until 2000 and co-presented BBC television coverage of the 1985 Live Aid concert.

Kershaw's shows featured a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word performances and a wide variety of other music from around the world.

Early life and education

Andrew Kershaw was born in Littleborough, Greater Manchester, on 9 November 1959, to John "Jack" Kershaw, headmaster of a comprehensive school in Rochdale, and Eileen Kershaw (),

As a party trick, aged two, he would name the whiskered military men in his father's history books of the First World War,

Kershaw was elected Entertainments Secretary in 1980, midway through his second year; this was a full-time commitment to a non-sabbatical office. He booked bands including Ian Dury, Dire Straits, the Clash, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop and Duran Duran – the last of whom were paid £50 from Kershaw's pocket to be a support act for Hazel O'Connor. by its producer Trevor Dann, whom Kershaw had met when filming with Bragg the previous week. He subsequently recorded a television interview with his hero Bob Dylan, and a loud session from the Ramones. He co-presented BBC television coverage of Live Aid in 1985. In July 1985, Kershaw began work as a BBC Radio 1 DJ, earmarked by the station as a possible successor to John Peel. Room 318 of Egton House was to house Kershaw, Peel, and their mentor, producer John Walters, whose Reithian motto was, "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." His weekly Radio 1 shows were characterised by their high levels of enthusiasm and musical eclecticism.

Kershaw's contract with Radio 1 ended in the year 2000. His last months on the network featured sessions by Willie Nelson, Warren Zevon and Lou Reed. He then worked at BBC Radio 3 the following year, where he soon completed a musical tour of the so-called Axis of Evil: Iraq, North Korea and Iran.

From July 2007, Kershaw was absent from his BBC Radio 3 show for an extended period, returning in 2011 with Music Planet, co-hosted with Lucy Durán. He returned on air to BBC Radio 3 in September 2020, presenting a two episode Sunday feature, The Kershaw Tapes.

Broadcast journalism

Kershaw worked as a journalist for BBC Radio 4's From Our Own Correspondent, the Today programme and The World Tonight. He reported from the 1994 Rwanda's genocide, Angola's civil war in 1996, Sierra Leone in 2001 and repeatedly from Haiti.

In Ghosts of Electricity, a 1998 documentary he made for Radio 1, Kershaw tracked down and unmasked, 32 years after the event, the heckler who shouted "Judas!" at Bob Dylan in 1966. In June 2005, Kershaw criticised Bob Geldof over the choice of artists who were due to play at Live 8, which included few black performers and even fewer Africans. Kershaw put together two compilations, Great Moments of Vinyl History (1988) and More Great Moments of Vinyl History (2004), which documented his wide musical taste.

Writing

Kershaw's autobiography, No Off Switch, was published in July 2011 by Serpent's Tail (later republished by Buster Press) and was praised by Stephen Fry among others. It received a negative review from Rachel Cooke in The Guardian, who said: "He is always right, and those who disagree are always stupid."

Personal life and death

Kershaw had a 17-year relationship with the mother of his two children, a son and a daughter. Subsequently, in January 2008, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for repeatedly violating this order. He was arrested a few days after his release, and at the end of that year he was given a six-month suspended sentence.

A much-advertised BBC Radio 4 interview with him, On the Ropes, was cancelled the day before transmission in April 2009 "over fears it would impinge on the privacy of his former girlfriend and their children". In August 2010, he was due to return to work at the BBC.

Kershaw's cancer diagnosis was revealed in January 2026. He died in his hometown of Todmorden on 16 April 2026, aged 66.

Recognition

In July 2003, Kershaw was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of East Anglia, and in 2005, he was similarly honoured by his alma mater, the University of Leeds.

In March 2007, Kershaw appeared on Desert Island Discs, selecting "Hupenyu Hwangu" by Bhundu Boys, the collected works of Ryszard Kapuscinski, and "lots of toilet roll" as his chosen favourite track, book and luxury item respectively.

References

  • Andy Kershaw on Desert Island Discs