Brian Hayes, the veteran BBC and LBC presenter, has died aged 87.
The Australian-born journalist was a pioneer in the broadcasting world, known for shaping the now popular conversational style of phone-in radio.
News of his death was shared by his former LBC colleague Steve Allen, who wrote on X: “Brian Hayes has passed away, what a legend RIP.”
Hayes began his journalism career in Perth, Western Australia where he was born in 1937, before relocating to the UK in the early Seventies.
Spanning over five decades, Hayes’s career saw him become one of the most recognised radio journalists of his time.
In 1973, he joined Capitol Radio as a producer before moving on air, and later signed on to LBC to present its morning phone-in from 1976 onwards.
At LBC, he helped shape the sound and style of the station and is credited with ushering in the serious but conversational style for phone-ins from listeners.
The programme established him as one of the network’s most recognisable voices before he left LBC in 1990 and decamped to BBC Radio 2, where he presented the breakfast show Good Morning UK!
During the Nineties, he also presented BBC’s Hayes Over Britain phone-in, for which he won a Gold Sony Award. He also enjoyed stints on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live.
He returned to LBC in the 2000s for a Sunday night programme, before retiring from full-time broadcasting.
On social media, former listeners and peers have paid tribute to Hayes.
“Often holding callers to account, but being professional too. Radio has lost a true legend!” wrote one fan.
Another added: “Sad to hear of the death of Brian Hayes who was one of phone-in radio’s pioneers. His work at LBC in the 1970s and 1980s was peerless. A real radio giant.”
“Brian Hayes was the best phone-in presenter on British radio. I was privileged to work with him at both LBC/IRN and the BBC. Blunt and forthright on air, but knowledgeable, fair and balanced whether talking to Cabinet Ministers or George from Hampstead. Modern-day broadcasters take note,” added a former colleague.
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