Peel widow 'touched' by public grief
The widow of John Peel has spoken about her husband’s death as music-lovers prepare for a night of tributes to the veteran DJ.
Peel, who gave hundreds of bands their big break on his late-night Radio 1 sessions, suffered a fatal heart attack in October, aged 65.
He will be honoured tonight on Radio 1’s John Peel Night, which will feature his favourite tunes and interviews with some of the musicians he helped to launch.
Peel’s wife Sheila, who was with him on a working holiday in Peru when he died, will dedicate a song to him, called Does This Train Stop On Merseyside? by Liverpool band Amsterdam.
She told the Liverpool Echo newspaper: “At first I said no when I was asked to do it because I’m not very good at that sort of thing. But I am going to do it.
“John just really loved the Amsterdam song. He always became really emotional when he played it.
"He wasn’t capable of playing it without crying.
“If he played it on the radio, he’d have to put something else on immediately afterwards because he wouldn’t be able to speak, and when he played it at home, he’d always need a cuddle afterwards.”
Mrs Peel added that she and the couple’s four children were “enormously touched” by the massive public response to her husband’s death.
She said: “So many people have been so enormously kind and yes, it does make you feel better.
“John wouldn’t have believed the response because he wasn’t a boastful man. He would have been beside himself.
“I knew people valued John but I didn’t think there would be such a public display of love and affection. It was quite heart-warming and quite wonderful. We were all enormously touched.”
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