Johnnie Walker, BBC radio DJ, dies aged 79

Pioneering presenter was best known for hosting Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show

• Johnnie Walker obituary

The veteran BBC DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced.

Walker, who hosted Radio 2's Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show, began his career as a pirate DJ in the 60s on the offshore station Swinging Radio England, then Radio Caroline, before joining Radio 1 in 1969. He left the station after causing controversy by describing the Bay City Rollers as musical garbage" and clashing with his bosses over an insistence on playing album tracks.