Gary Davies pays tribute to “broadcasting giant, our friend Steve Wright”

Gary Davies paid an emotional tribute to his friend and colleague Steve Wright on Pick of the Pops yesterday.

There have been many tributes to Steve since his death was announced, but for Gary Davies sitting on Steve’s Radio 2 show yesterday, it was a difficult moment.

He began the show saying that it was a special version of Pick of the Pops dedicated to “a broadcasting giant, our friend Steve Wright who we sadly lost this week.”

Gary told listeners that he’d sat in for Steve numerous times over the last 40 years but was finding it hard to come to terms as to why he was sitting in for him for one final time.

“We’ve been celebrating his life on Radio 2 all week but it’s today when we really feel the loss,” Gary said. “As we come to the point in the Radio 2 schedule when Steve should be kicking off the show. Steve was a friend, a colleague, a true radio pioneer – broadcasting was Steve’s life.”

He revealed that he was listening to Steve on Pick of the Pops last Saturday and thought how brilliant he was sounding.

Fighting back the tears, Gary continued: “He loved the show, he made it his own and you could tell he was having a lot of fun with it. So, we felt the best way to remember him was to celebrate the years that he started broadcasting on the BBC. First on Radio 1 in 1980 and then moving on to Radio 2 in 1996.”

He added: “Steve – this is for you,” which was followed by a look back at those two years which were so important in Steve’s incredible career.

New audio – A few words from Gary Davies before Pick of the Pops @BBCRadio2 (Feb 17th 2024).#AircheckDownloads#SteveWright pic.twitter.com/XvVCTjVn1V

— Aircheck Downloads (@airchecks) February 18, 2024