Former Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter Andy Kershaw dies aged 66

Former BBC Radio 1 DJ and Live Aid presenter Andy Kershaw has died aged 66, his family has confirmed, saying he died around 19:30 BST on Thursday.

It had been announced in January that the broadcaster, who also had his own podcast, had been diagnosed with cancer and was unable to walk.

Kershaw was a familiar voice on Radio 1 for 15 years from 1985, known for his eclectic taste and for helping champion world music.

He went on to report for Radio 4, both on music and global conflicts including the 1994 Rwanda Genocide and civil war in Sierra Leone in 2001.

Kershaw was born in Rochdale in 1959, and after studying at Leeds University, he began his career in the early 80s at Radio Aire in Leeds as a promotions manager, forging a partnership with veteran presenter Martin Kelner.

In 1984, Kershaw first anchored the BBC's flagship TV rock programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, having been spotted while he was working as a roadie and driver for performer Billy Bragg.

The following year, he was one of the BBC's TV presenters for its coverage of Live Aid - a huge, star-studded benefit concert which raised money for the Ethiopian famine, organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

Kershaw also joined BBC Radio 1 in the summer of 1985 - he was viewed by some as a potential successor to DJ John Peel. His sister Liz Kershaw also worked at the station during his time there, from 1987 to 1992.

But by 2000, Andy Kershaw's weekly late-night Radio 1 show was axed as part of a scheduling overhaul. His last months on the network featured sessions by Willie Nelson and Lou Reed.

After Radio 1, Kershaw went on to report for BBC Radio 4, including reports for the Today Programme, and he travelled the world to explore both global music influences and areas experiencing political instability.

He also worked on BBC Radio 3, where, in his words, he "continued to ignore categories and mix it all up", and he completed a musical tour of Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

The DJ and presenter was off air for several years, after a series of well-documented personal problems.

These culminated him being jailed in 2008 for three months for breaking a restraining order which banned him from seeing his former partner. He was later given a suspended six-month sentence for again breaching a restraining order.

In 2011, he returned to BBC radio with a new music series that tied in with BBC One Human Planet.

Their show, Music Planet, saw Kershaw and co-presenter Lucy Duran travel around the world to record "extraordinary music" in "isolated locations", Radio 3 noted.

That year Kershaw also released an autobiography entitled No Off Switch, detailing his life and career.

On his broadcasting philosophy, he talked about how his mentor John Walters had influenced him, saying: "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".

Kershaw continued his career as a broadcaster in recent years, having launched his own podcast.

His distinctive take on life and humour could also be seen when he released a statement after learning of his cancer diagnosis.

Saying he was in "good spirits", he joked: "I am determined not to die before Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Ant and Dec. That should keep me going for a while."